Update: In the same news story about Stephen Daldry being courted to direct Wicked comes word that Favreau is now in official negotiations for the Jersey job.
Hugo producer Graham King has been pushing a film adaptation of jukebox musical Jersey Boys: The Story Of Frankie Vallie And The Four Seasons for a couple of years now. It would appear that the movie is creeping closer to seeing that green light flash as Jon Favreau has emerged the frontrunner to direct it.
If he does take the gig, it would be a definite change of tone for Favreau, who has spent the last few years helping Marvel grow its cinematic universe via two Iron Man films and his executive producing job on other titles such as The Avengers. He also tackled – less successfully – Cowboys & Aliens. Most recently, he’s directed the pilot for Revolution, a new TV series from JJ Abrams and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke.
**Jersey Boys will **follow Vallie and the other Four Seasons in their rise to pop superstardom. The show has toured the world after launching on Broadway in 2005. Back in January, King hired Hugo writer John Logan to write the latest draft of the script.
When the film will actually kick off production is another matter, since Favreau has also been developing Magic Kingdom. In between megaphone gigs, he’s been getting back to his acting routes, and will appear in People Like Us (due some time this year), Identity Thief (out July 12, 2013) and** Iron Man 3** as Happy Hogan, which hits our screens on May 3 next year.