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Musical movies have had a bit of a resurgence in the last few years, and this fall sees three musical events heading our way. All three are based on popular and beloved classics of American musical theater, but how will they fare when they jump off the stage and onto our screens? Here’s a look at the musical heavy-hitters, with presumptive assumptions about what may very well go wrong with each of them.

Into the Woods

Oh, this is gonna be a rough one. While the trailer looks very pretty and features a beautiful, orchestral rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s original score and it boasts an all-star cast (Meryl!), I am dubious. First of all, a Disney-fied version of the beloved musical does not bode well — nor does the attachment of director Rob Marshall, who, yes, had a hit with his film version of Chicago, but then gave us clunkers like Nine and Memoirs of a Geisha. Early reports indicate that the script, penned by James Lapine (who co-wrote the original show), deviated from the musical’s dark, adult themes. Plus, both the Narrator and the Mysterious Man were cut. Those are both major players in the musical’s plot! Sure, you’re excited about Meryl Streep rapping about salad now, but I am betting all the gay guys who are looking forward to Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen as the princes in tights are going to be a bit flabbergasted when they realize one of the best musicals ever written was butchered so that Disney could sell more fairy-tale bullshit to children.

Watch the stage production of Into the Woods, starring Bernadette Peters, on Amazon Instant Video.

Peter Pan Live!

Last year’s successful (sort of) live broadcast of The Sound of Music was a ratings boon for NBC. I sure loved it! I mean, I hate the stage version of The Sound of Music, and Carrie Underwood was not very good, but it sure was fun to tweet about! Plus, lots of Laura Benanti bitch face, which is always welcome, if you ask me. Naturally, NBC hopes for a repeat performance with a live broadcast of Peter Pan. Naturally, they picked the incredibly dynamic Allison Williams to play the title character. (Someone owed Brian Williams a favor, I guess.) I think it’ll be fun to watch her swing around on wires for a couple of hours. There’ll be some great tweets, for sure. But honestly, no one will really care because it’s Peter Pan, which is kind of a dumb musical that is for children.

Watch the stage version of Peter Pan, starring Cathy Rigby, on Amazon Instant Video.

Annie

I’m curious about this one, to be honest. Like the trailer for Into the Woods, the first look at Annie featured almost no singing. Who are they trying to kid? People know that Annie is a musical! Who knows what this adaptation will end up like. Sure, it’s got a modern-day twist (with Cameron Diaz‘s Miss Hannigan being a mean foster mother rather than the cruel proprietor of an orphanage, and Jamie Foxx as a politician who is trying to boost his PR by taking in an orphaned little girl), but that’s not where the changes stop. Two supporting characters, Miss Hannigan’s pals Rooster and Lily St. Regis, were also cut from the new film. (Also, Sandy is a shiba inu. I do not know why.) Annie diehards might be a little disappointed, but it seems like this deviates far enough from the original musical that it’ll stand on its own legs.

Find out where to stream the original film version of Annie, starring Carol Burnett on GoWatchIt.

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Photos: Disney, NBC, Everett Collection