Can’t wait: Co-writer and director Deborah Kaplan announces that a stage musical adaptation is in the works

The 1998 teen comedy I can’t wait is getting a revival in the form of a stage musical. The co-writer/director of the film Deborah Kaplan announced that a stage musical based on her is in the works and Harry Elfont’s Cult film for teenagers from 1998, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ethan Embry, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green AND Charlie Korsmo.

He shared the title graphic and tagged the official Instagram profile for I can’t wait: the musicalwriting in the caption, “And that’s all I can say @canthardlywaitthemusical #comingsoon.”

Kaplan told Deadline that she and Elfont are “mostly benevolent godparents watching from the sidelines” at the upcoming production.

The musical “follows a group of high school seniors on the eve of graduation, as they face the end of this chapter of their lives during a party at their classmates’ house. What will the future bring? That’s a question for another day.

I can’t wait: the musical will be directed by Kate Sullivan (Nineteen, Live fat!, For rent: Downtown Los Angeles) and written by Sinead Daly (By Amazon The summer I got prettyNetflix Dirty John) with arrangements and orchestrations by Jesse Vargas (Glory days, The Ritz). The musical is produced by Michael Barra and Allison Bressi of Lively McCabe Entertainment, as well as Natalia Nastaskin and Ramon Villa of Primary Wave Music.

The soundtrack will feature some iconic hits from the late ’90s and early 2000s, mostly from the Primary Wave and Sony Music Publishing catalogs. I owned the soundtrack to this movie and it was in heavy rotation in the late 90’s.

Barra, CEO of Lively McCabe, said of the project:

“I can’t wait has grown to become a cult favorite for three generations of movie audiences, and it has long been a dream of ours to adapt it for a wide movie audience. We are grateful to Deb and Harry and our friends at Columbia Pictures for entrusting us with this iconic property, and we look forward to collaborating again with our partners at Primary Wave to contribute to its legacy.

Natalia Nastaskin, Chief Content Officer of Primary Wave Music, added:

“The teen romantic comedy narrative of I can’t wait it’s relatable, funny and touching. We are thrilled to work with Kate, Sinead, Jesse and the team at Lively McCabe and bring our vast catalog of hits to fuel the soundtrack to this timeless story.”

The original 1998 romantic comedy followed six high school seniors at their graduation party, where Preston Meyers (Embry) plans to give his longtime crush (Hewitt) a love letter after their four-time chance meeting years ago.

The entire cast of I can’t wait boasts an ensemble of stars from the young Hollywood of the time, including Selma Blair, Jason Segel, Melissa Joan Hart, Jerry O’Connell, Donald Faison, Jaime Pressly, Clea DuVall, Leslie Grossman, Breckin Meyer, Sara Rue, Sean Patrick Thomas, Amber Benson, Marisol Nichols, Joel Michaely AND Jennifer Elise Cox.

The film served as Kaplan and Elfont’s directorial debut before they became director Josie and the Pussycats (2001), as well as the shows Mary + Jane (2016) e Lisa on request (2018-2021).