EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros is moving forward with a new incarnation of Little Shop of Horrors, with Greg Berlanti set to direct and Matthew Robinson writing the script. This one will be a musical, a fresh version of the 30-year old Frank Oz-directed film. That was based on the Roger Corman-directed 1960 low budget sci-fi campy tale about a clumsy young man who raises a plant, discovers it is carnivorous, and kills to keep it fed. There is a memorable scene with Jack Nicholson as a pain-seeking dental patient in the original, replicated in the musical by Bill Murray. Marc Platt is producing. The 1986 film was scripted by Howard Ashman from his off-Broadway musical, with tunes crafted with his frequent collaborator Alan Menken. Sarah Schechter is exec producer.

Berlanti last directed the 2010 comedy Life As We Know It. More recently, he and his Warner Bros-based Berlanti Productions have been busy spearheading six TV series, with Supergirl, Blindspot, The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and the upcoming Riverdale.

Robinson wrote and co-directed with Ricky Gervais The Invention of Lying, as well In Search of Humans, Fox, Chernin and director Wes Ball. He is also scripting several animated film assignments He is repped by 3 Arts and ICM Partners, while Berlanti is repped by WME.

That was based on the Roger Corman-directed 1960 low budget sci-fi campy tale about a clumsy young man who raises a plant, discovers it is carnivorous, and kills to keep it fed. There is a memorable scene with Jack Nicholson as a pain-seeking dental patient in the original, replicated in the musical by Bill Murray.

Warner Bros. has been pretty quiet about their proposed remake of The Little Shop of Horrors but that looks to be about to change. It’s been reported that Josh Gad (Beauty and the Beast) and Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect) could be in the frame for taking the lead roles in an update of the cult horror-comedy musical.

The first version of The Little Shop of Horrors was a darkly comic low-budget horror from genre legend Richard Corman (The Masque of the Red Death). Filmed in 1960 over the course of just two days, it tells the story of a man-eating plant being cultivated by a timid florist who falls under its spell, and also featured an early wacky cameo by Jack Nicholson. It was reinvented as a Broadway stage musical in 1982, and this led to the much-loved film version of the production in 1986 which was directed by Frank Oz (The Dark Crystal). Starring Rick Moranis as Seymour and Ellen Greene as his unrequited love Audrey, it also featured Steve Martin and the songs from the stage show. Singer Levi Stubbs gave life to the smooth-voiced killer plant Audrey II. Rumors of remakes occasionally surfaced with Joseph Gordon-Levitt linked to one in 2012. However it was during last year that Warner Bros. announced a remake that would be directed by DCTV’s Greg Berlanti. Nothing of any real substance has been heard about the project since then though.

Today however, That Hashtag Show has reported some fresh developments with the progress of the remake. Keen to move forward with the project, Warner Bros. is apparently looking to cast Gad and Wilson in the starring roles of Seymour and Audrey. Although this is still to be officially confirmed and both actors have yet to sign anything, they are reportedly said to be very interested in the film.

The first version of The Little Shop of Horrors was a darkly comic low-budget horror from genre legend Richard Corman (The Masque of the Red Death). Filmed in 1960 over the course of just two days, it tells the story of a man-eating plant being cultivated by a timid florist who falls under its spell, and also featured an early wacky cameo by Jack Nicholson.