This is a planned film adaptation of the award-winning Broadway musical which was based on the 1891 expressionist play of the same name by Frank Wedekind about the sexual awakening of a group of troubled adolescents in late 19th-century Germany. Wedekind's play, which featured unflinching depictions of masturbation, abortion, rape and suicide, was considered so shocking that it had to wait 15 years for its German premiere and 74 years for a British professional production.
In April 2009, McG, who started out as a songwriter and music producer before becoming a pop promo and feature films director was announced as the director for the film adaptation. He later dropped out.
In April 2009, McG, who started out as a songwriter and music producer before becoming a pop promo and feature films director, was announced as the director for the film adaptation. McG said it was his passion project and planned to take a stylistic approach to the film in the vein of Baz Luhrmann. "It's my version of Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story," he said in an interview, "I'm going to do it with a Baz Luhrmann take on artistic privilege and the manner in which it looks, because it's 19th century Germany, but it's today. I can't wait to do it. I love the music, and I love the story, and I love the relatability. It's basically youth against establishment, and there's always room for that." McG later dropped out as director but a reason was never given.
This will be the first film version of the musical stage production, which was adapted from the original German play, though various non-musical film and TV versions of the play have been previously produced, including Frühlingserwachen (1929), The Awakening of Spring (2009), a German TV movie called Frühlings Erwachen (2009), and a loosely based short musical comedy about an Amish teen called Rumspringawakening (2019). Another non-musical version is also currently in production with director Kurt Leitner at the helm.
In 2010, lyricist-librettist Steven Sater, who took over as director, told Playbill that a film version of Spring Awakening could begin production in Europe in the spring of 2013. In 2012, Duncan Sheik told Broadwayworld that the movie was in development, but not everything was in place yet. In March 2014, Sheik revealed to U-T San Diego that the movie would include a new song.