Hairspray is a 2007 American musical film based on the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John Waters's 1988 comedy film of the same name. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows the "pleasantly plump" teenager Tracy Turnblad as she pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation. Adapted from both Waters' 1988 script and Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell's book for the stage musical by screenwriter Leslie Dixon, the 2007 film version of Hairspray is directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman. Hairspray features songs from the Broadway musical written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, as well as four new Shaiman/Wittman compositions not present in the original Broadway version. Opening to critical acclaim, Hairspray met with financial success, breaking the record for biggest sales at opening weekend for a movie musical,[4] which the film held until July 2008 when it was surpassed by Mamma Mia![5] and later High School Musical 3: Senior Year in October.[6] Hairspray went on to become the sixth highest grossing musical film in US cinema history, behind the film adaptations of Grease, Chicago, and Mamma Mia!,[5] and stands as one of the most critically and commercially successful musical films of the last decade. Available in a variety of formats, Hairspray's Region 1 home video release took place on November 20, 2007.[7] USA Network purchased the broadcast rights to Hairspray and was scheduled to debut the film on cable television in February 2010, but in the end it did not broadcast that month, instead the film was pushed back and premiered on USA on July 24, 2010, with sister channel Bravo also showing it multiple times, and in February 2011 aired on ABC for over-the-air broadcasts
