While we met the announcement of INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, the mini-series detailing the history of the band and their iconic frontman Michael Hutchence broadcast on Channel Seven last year, with a sigh, the series was ultimately fun in a trashy sort of way.

However, we’re putting our foot down with this latest attempt at capitalising on the legacy of the late Hutchence. According to News Corp, a musical based on the legendary Sydney band’s raft of hits is set to open in Sydney in 2017.

Since Never Tear Us Apart reignited interest in the band last year, manager Chris M Murphy has reportedly set up a theatre company to bring INXS The Musical to life, though he’s reportedly remained tight-lipped about his backers for the project.

Murphy insists he has some of the international theatre world’s biggest “creatives” coming on board to write and produce the musical, which if successful, could gross more than $1.5 million a week. That’s how much a sold-out production can make, according to veteran producer John Frost.

However, Frost also recently estimated that a hit show costs about $5 million to stage, with weekly run costs of up to $600,000. Considering the band’s vast catalog of hits, to which Murphy reacquired the rights a few years ago, it’s not outside the realm of possibility.

Never Tear Us Apart was viewed by more than two million Australians and sold internationally. Meanwhile, the band’s The Very Best hits compilation has sold more than 350,000 copies and has spent 102 weeks in the charts and counting.

“I started thinking Vegas before I started to think Broadway. I have been talking to Giles Martin about what he did with The Beatles music for the Cirque du Soleil show LOVE,” Murphy told News Corp. “We want the show to be sexy and dramatic, not a jukebox of hits.”

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Murphy said he turned down offers to open the show in London. “When I came back on board with the band I wanted to turn INXS into one of the most iconic brands in Australia. We have done it and we have to continue to do it here,” he said.

“A lot of young people who are now fans never got a chance to see INXS live and this will be the place to see their music in a live setting.” Guitarist Tim Farriss, who is no longer able to play after an boating accident in February, will act as a consultant on the production.

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“That’s something I can do with one hand; I can still point at people,” he joked. However, Farriss said that when Murphy first raised the idea of turning INXS’ songs into a musical years ago, the band threw things at him from across their tour bus.

“I told Chris I hate musicals but I’ve been going to a couple to get my head around it. Contemporary music these days is meant to be theatrical entertainment,” he said. “The whole thing about us is we wrote our music for the live stage because we were a live band and these songs are meant to be performed.”

“It’s been great to see people like Bruce Springsteen, Arcade Fire, London Grammar and Brandon Flowers perform our songs recently.” Fariss and Murphy have stated they want the focus of the show to be on the music and not the band’s history, a la Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You.

Fans will naturally make up their own minds about INXS The Musical, but even if the musical is in fact an original narrative, with no references to the band outside of the music, this still sounds like just another plot to exploit the legacy of one of Australia’s most treasured bands and its late frontman.

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