Global Creatures has begun development to turn Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor’s 2001 hit movie into a new musical.

Hot on the heels of Strictly Ballroom The Musical, it has been announced that Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 hit film Moulin Rouge! is being adapted for the stage by a team of American creatives under the auspices of Melbourne-based production company Global Creatures.

The original, lavish Twentieth Century Fox movie was set in 19th-century Montmartre and starred Ewan McGregor as the starving poet who falls in love with Satine, a doomed courtesan and cabaret artist played by Nicole Kidman. The film also featured a host of Australian actors including Richard Roxburgh, Kylie Minogue, Caroline O’Connor and Richard Wenham. To date, the film has grossed more than  $179 million worldwide and was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture, and won two.

The “new” musical will have a book by US playwright John Logan who won the Tony for his 2009 play, Red, about the life of the 20th-century American artist Mark Rothko. As a screenwriter, Logan has worked on successful projects like Skyfall, Spectre, The Aviator and Gladiator. The director brought on board for Moulin Rouge! is also an American – two-time Tony-nominated...