Dr. Strangelove Stage Play Coming From Veep Creator Armando Iannucci

Few movies loom larger over a genre than Stanley Kubrick's 1964 comic masterpiece "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." Executing sharp, hilarious satire is one of the more difficult things to accomplish on film, and almost no movie — if any — has matched this Cold War tale of trigger-happy military men and hapless bureaucrats in terms of completely demolishing any respectability people in power once had. Along with its brilliant social commentary, you have this monumental star showcase of Peter Sellers, who earned an Oscar nomination for his three performances in the film. Each one is completely unique, has its own comedic game, and it never feels like some gimmick. Every element of "Dr. Strangelove" is perfectly carried out, and it is the right balance of stakes and humor that so many filmmakers have tried to duplicate but never have.

It's one thing to be inspired by "Dr. Strangelove." It's another to take on that exact material again after they nailed it the first time. Well, it looks like we will be getting a reinterpretation of "Dr. Strangelove," as Variety is reporting. Thankfully, it will not be just your run-of-the-mill remake that will surely fail. Instead, it is being adapted for the stage by the only person out there who I would be willing to trust with this material, "The Thick of It" and "Veep" creator Armando Iannucci, and it will make its debut on London's West End in fall 2024.

The screen-to-stage pipeline isn't new. Countless stage shows — mostly musicals — originated as films first. On Broadway right now, you can see adaptations of "Aladdin," "Back to the Future," "The Lion King," "Moulin Rouge!," "New York, New York," and "Some Like It Hot." And in Hollywood, we have an endless churn of remakes and IP-mining. With all of that, there are still some sacared cows no one will really touch. Stanley Kubrick is one of those people whose work rarely gets touched, despite being one of the most famous filmmakers of all time who made some of the most recognizable films of all time.

After his death in 1999, the only time someone was reinterpreting and engaging with his work directly was "Doctor Sleep," though that distances itself as much from Kubrick's "The Shining" as honors it. The Kubrick estate has rightfully been very protective of his work in the last 24 years, but they felt it was finally the right time to give someone the opportunity, especially for "Dr. Strangelove," as Christiane Kubrick told Variety:

"It was so important to him that it wasn't changed from how he finished it. But we could not resist authorising this project: the time is right; the people doing it are fantastic; and 'Strangelove' should be brought to a new and younger audience. I am sure Stanley would have approved it too."

For my money, the closest anyone has come to capturing that "Strangelove" magic is Armando Iannucci with his brilliant Soviet satire "The Death of Stalin," which is equal parts outrageous and horrifying. I'm hopeful he'll find that balance again, and this new medium choice is sure to bring a lot of exciting opportunities. Maybe I'll finally make it to London next year ...