Rita Ora and her husband, Taika Waititi, are diving into the chaos of Fyre Festival and Broadway in one bold swing to produce a stage musical based on the infamous 2017 disaster in the Bahamas.
The project, titled Fyre Fest The Musical, will chronicle the life of Billy McFarland, who orchestrated the rise and spectacular collapse of the fraudulent luxury music festival.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, production is being written and directed by Bryan Buckley, best known for his Super Bowl commercials, with music by Grammy-winning producer Paul Epworth and set design by Broadway veteran David Korins, who worked on Hamilton.
Waititi described the concept as “exciting, weird, and potentially disastrous, which seems apt and is how I like to work.”
The original Fyre Festival was marketed as an elite getaway for influencers and wealthy millennials, promising luxury accommodations and performances by top-tier artists.
Instead, attendees arrived to find FEMA tents, cold cheese sandwiches and no live music. The event was abruptly canceled, stranding many on the island.
McFarland, who spearheaded the event, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2018 and was sentenced to six years in prison. He was released in March 2022.
According to the FBI, he agreed to forfeit $26 million in restitution. Federal prosecutors called him “the consummate con artist.”
In July, McFarland sold the intellectual property rights on eBay for $245,300.
The winner of this digital yard sale now owns everything from the Fyre name to its social media accounts, domain names, trademarks, and marketing files.
The musical’s creative team has not revealed an opening date or confirmed whether it will head to Broadway.
However, the production will kick off with a launch event on Monday, featuring a 100-foot barge docked in Brooklyn, as well as art installations throughout the week.
Two documentaries about the failed festival—one from Netflix and another from Hulu—debuted in 2019, both highlighting the scale of deception and mismanagement.