If You Liked Emilia Pérez, Watch The Last Non-Broadway Movie Musical To Be Nominated For Best Picture

Moulin Rouge! is one of the most visually stunning movies to be released in the 2000s, and if you liked Emilia Pérez, you should watch Moulin Rouge! next. Surprisingly, the two movies are visually similar despite being different genres. It was a bold choice to make the crime-centered story told in Emilia Pérez into a musical, but Moulin Rouge! was the perfect story to tell through this medium. Moulin Rouge! is a tragic romance story with an 89% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning two of them.

Emilia Pérez has a grittier setting than Moulin Rouge!, but a similarly tragic ending and a compelling leading actress. The story centers on the transformation and redemption of a trans drug cartel kingpin who fakes her own death and begins a new life. While Emilia Pérez has been controversial, it has also been widely praised for its make-up, score, and songs. It may be too early to tell if Emilia Pérez will stand the test of time as one of the best musicals of all time, but Moulin Rouge! certainly has, with its visuals and soundtrack still holding up today.

The Last Movie-Musical Not Based On A Broadway Show To Be Nominated For Best Picture Was Moulin Rouge!

Emilia Pérez Has Already Been Shortlisted For Six Academy Awards

Moulin Rouge! is about the doomed love affair between the poet, Christian, and the courtesan, Satine. Satine is being used as a pawn in Harry Zidler's plan to turn the Moulin Rouge into a theater. To secure funding, he wants Satine to sleep with a duke. However, Satine has fallen in love with Christian, and, to make matters worse, she is dying. There have been just 10 movie musicals to win Best Picture, and though most have been based on Broadway productions, Moulin Rouge! was not. The nomination was a fantastic achievement, though Moulin Rouge! lost to A Beautiful Mind.

It is possible that Emilia Pérez could surpass Moulin Rouge! at the Academy Awards, if Emilia Pérez is nominated for more awards and wins two or more. Currently, Emilia Pérez has been nominated for Best International Feature, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, Original Score, and Original Song. While Emilia Pérez has some stiff competition with Wicked, thought (but not yet confirmed) to be a major contender for Best Picture, Wicked is based on a Broadway production. If Emilia Pérez is nominated for Best Picture, it will be the first non-Broadway musical to be nominated for the award since Moulin Rouge!

Moulin Rouge! & Emilia Pérez Have Similar Staging But Different Music

Two Songs In Emilia Pérez Have Been Shortlisted For Best Original Song

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Both Emilia Pérez and Moulin Rouge! feature rich jewel-like colors, elaborate staging, and a soundtrack that drives the narrative forward. That said, most of the songs in Emilia Pérez are original, while Moulin Rouge! mostly featured adapted versions of songs by popular artists. While the soundtrack featured music by Elton John, Nirvana, and Madonna, one of the best songs in the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack was the original "Come What May." This might have been considered a candidate for the Best Original Song nomination, but it was disqualified as it had originally been written for Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet.

Moulin Rouge! & Emilia Pérez Statistics Title Year Budget Genre Rotten Tomatoes Critics Rotten Tomatoes Audience Moulin Rouge! 2001 $50 Million Romance/Drama 75% 89% Emilia Pérez 2024 $26.2 Million Crime/Comedy 76% 72%

Like Moulin Rouge!, the songs on Emilia Pérez's soundtrack cross several styles and genres, though most of the original songs were written by the French singer, Camille. One of these songs is "El Mal," which plays while Emilia speaks at a fundraiser. Another is "Mi Camino," which is sung by Selena Gomez. "Mi Camino" is one of the standout songs in Emilia Pérez, as it is sung at a key moment in the movie and explores the themes of love and self-image for the main characters. Both "Mi Camino" and "El Mal" have been shortlisted for Best Original Song.

Moulin Rouge! Was Later Adapted Into An Amazing Broadway Musical

An Emilia Pérez Stage Musical Adaptation Could Be A Cultural Turning Point

The musical adaptation of Moulin Rouge! premiered in 2018, and received 14 Tony Award nominations, winning 10 of them (including Best Musical.) While the musical stays very close to the movie, it has also elaborated on the soundtrack by using popular songs that have been released since the original movie premiered, including songs by Katy Perry and P!nk. Moulin Rouge! is still being performed in many locations around the world, including Broadway, where Satine is played by Natalie Mendoza, who played a can-can dancer in Baz Luhrmann's original movie.

Related 10 Best Movie Musical Numbers Of All Time The best movie musical numbers capture the essence and spirit of their shows through song, and translate to the screen perfectly.

There are still few movies like Emilia Pérez, though, as more attention is paid to productions featuring marginalized voices and made outside Hollywood, this is changing for the better. If Emilia Pérez does well in the upcoming awards ceremonies, this could be a cultural turning point, with a potential Emilia Pérez stage musical offering nuanced roles for trans actors. The movie shares so many visual elements with the phenomenally successful Moulin Rouge!, which was successfully adapted for the stage, that an Emilia Pérez stage musical could be a good future move.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes