Bobby Farrelly says he and his brother Peter are actively developing a stage musical version of the 1998 comedy There's Something About Mary.
Farrelly told reporters the project has been quietly in the works for a few years and that Marla Mindelle is collaborating with Peter Farrelly on the adaptation, a move Mindelle confirmed in an interview with Variety.
The decision to adapt the film brings back the names that made the movie a mainstream phenomenon: Ben Stiller played Ted Stroehmann and Cameron Diaz was Mary Jensen in the original, which grossed $369 million worldwide on a $23 million budget after its 1998 release.
The film’s premise — a man still obsessed with a high-school crush hires a private investigator who promptly becomes equally obsessed — is the spine the brothers say they plan to turn into a musical narrative, with songs and set pieces built around the movie’s farcical, romantic core.
Mindelle, who this year earned a Tony nomination and whose work on Titaníque earned her a reputation as a breakout stage presence, has been described by TheaterMania as delivering a star-making performance in that show. Her attachment signals the Farrellys want a strong theatrical collaborator as they move from screen to stage.
Bobby Farrelly said the brothers have been taking the film’s story and thinking through how to make it live onstage; he said they have many ideas about songs and a possible tone, even comparing their ambitions to the irreverent, modern musical comedy of shows like The Book of Mormon.
At the same time, Farrelly cautioned that Broadway musicals can take a long time to shape. He framed the project as a multi-year effort that has been developing quietly for a few years and said the team hopes the show could be ready to debut on Broadway or the West End as early as next year.
The timetable sets up a clear tension. Turning a crude, broadly comic Hollywood hit into a coherent musical requires new book writing, songs, choreography and a staging concept that can hold an audience through two acts. The Farrellys’ optimism about an early staging collides with the practical reality that most musicals require extended workshops and out-of-town tryouts before a major opening.
The move also fits into a larger arc for the Farrellys. There’s Something About Mary was one of their early breakout successes after films such as Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin; the brothers later worked on projects including Me, Myself & Irene, Shallow Hal and the comedy series Loudermilk. Turning one of their signature titles into a stage piece is both a continuation of that through-line and a response to changing economics in film comedy.
If the Farrellys and Mindelle can translate the film’s mix of romantic obsession and gross-out set pieces into a musical language, they will test whether a late-1990s movie that relied on cinematic gags can find fresh life onstage without losing what made it popular. The coming year will show whether quiet development yields a ready-for-Broadway production or whether the brothers’ caveat that musicals take time proves decisive.
For now, the project is squarely in the Farrellys’ hands: they are leading development with Mindelle as a named collaborator, and they have offered a public timeline that aims for as early as next year while acknowledging the work ahead.
