Watching “La Haine” nearly 30 years ago, there was a sense of something inexorable about violence in the French suburbs. French director Mathieu Kassovitz’s critically acclaimed black-and-white film opens with video images of news footage of urban riots. The film then follows three friends — Hubert, Vinz and Saïd —…

Nearly three decades later, it’s still hailed as the reference film on housing projects in crisis. Kassovitz and theater director Serge Denoncourt are giving it new life, turning it into a stage musical that opens in October.

Watching “La Haine” nearly 30 years ago, there was a sense of something inexorable about violence in the French suburbs.French director Mathieu Kassovitz’s critically acclaimed black-and-white film opens with video images of news footage of urban riots. The film then follows three friends — Hubert, Vinz and Saïd — over the course of 24 hours in a world of police brutality. It ends with the killing of one of the young men by a police officer.A confrontation ensues, followed by a voice-over: ‘‘It’s about a society in free fall.

The critically acclaimed French film “La Haine” is being adapted into a musical show nearly three decades after becoming a classic.