What goes around, comes around. Sometimes. In 1977, director Alan Parker first heard the Evita concept album and immediately inquired about doing a film adaptation but dropped the idea when producer Robert Stigwood chose to first pursue a stage adaptation. However, in 1979, Stigwood invited Parker to the Broadway opening of Evita and asked him if heΓÇÖd like to direct a film version. At that time Parker was directing the movie musical Fame, and promised Stigwood heΓÇÖd give him an answer when he finished, which he did. Parker didnΓÇÖt feel like directing back-to-back musicals, so his answer was no, a decision he admits ΓÇ£regretting for fifteen yearsΓÇ¥.
In the 80ΓÇÖs, Parker directed such diverse films as Pink Floyd-The Wall, Birdy, Angel Heart, Mississippi Burning and The Commitments, earning his second Academy Award nomination (Mississippi Burning) for ΓÇ£Best DirectorΓÇ¥ in the process. The Evita project, meanwhile, was attached to such stars as Meryl Streep and Barbara Streisand, and directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Oliver Stone, but the deal never quite came together.
Finally, in 1994, producer Andy Vajna approached Parker and offered him another chance to direct Evita, and this time Parker accepted, thrilled for the opportunity to eliminate the ΓÇ£regretΓÇ¥ and start work on a project he calls ΓÇ£a passion of mine and a great challenge for any filmmakerΓÇ¥.
