<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $80 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $154.8 million </Td> </Tr> <P> Dreamgirls is a 2006 American romantic musical comedy - drama film written and directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures . Adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name by composer Henry Krieger and lyricist / librettist Tom Eyen, Dreamgirls is a film à clef, a work of fiction taking strong inspiration from the history of the Motown record label and one of its acts, The Supremes . The story follows the history and evolution of American R&B music during the 1960s and 1970s through the eyes of a Detroit, Michigan girl group known as the Dreams and their manipulative record executive . </P> <P> The film adaptation of Dreamgirls stars Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé, Eddie Murphy, and Jennifer Hudson, and also features Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose and Keith Robinson . Produced by Laurence Mark, the film's screenplay was adapted by director Condon from the original Broadway book by Tom Eyen . In addition to the original Kreiger Eyen compositions, four new songs, composed by Krieger with various lyricists, were added for this film . Dreamgirls features the acting debut of Hudson, a former American Idol contestant and singer . </P>

Who are the characters of dreamgirls based on