First rumored more than a year ago, Rob Marshall’s film version of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway hit Into the Woods is signing the kind of names that show Disney is committed to doing this 1987 classic justice. In late April deals were said to be closee to secure Meryl Streep as the Witch, Johnny Depp as the Baker and James Corden as the Wolf. Allison Janney is also confirmed. Today it’s being reported that Chris Pine and Jake Gyllenhaal ar set to join the cast as the two princely brothers. James Lapine, director of the 2002 revival, has written the screenplay.
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters’ performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason’s portrayal of the Baker’s Wife brought acclaim to the production during its original Broadway run. Into the Woods won several Tony Awards, including Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason), in a year dominated by The Phantom of the Opera.
The musical has been produced many times, with a 1988 US national tour, a 1990 West End production, a 1991 television production, a 1997 tenth anniversary concert, a 2002 Broadway revival, a 2010 London revival[1] and in 2012 as part of New York City’s outdoor Shakespeare in the Park series. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales and follows them to explore the consequences of the characters’ wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Rapunzel”, and “Cinderella”, as well as several others. The musical is tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, and their interaction with a Witch and her curse on them. (wiki)
Audra McDonald doesn’t have the type of voice to fit the Witch. I LOVE her, and I think that she is one of the theater’s greatest voices/actresses, but she is too legit. I agree that if they were going to cast 64 years old, go with Bernadette. James Corden is brilliant, but I’m really scared to see who they places as the Baker’s Wife. I have this fear that it’ll be Nicole Kidman. I sincerely hope not.
There’s probably a simple formula casting directors can use to calculate how many more tens of millions of people will buy a movie ticket to see Meryl Streep vs Audra McDonald play a witch.
Type of voice to fit the Witch? I’ll bet Meryl can come up with something.
I posted this because I thought it might get you guys excited. Didn’t mean to give you new things to worry about.
Eh, this was always going to be a worrisome project. Better to take the discouraging developments in small, periodic bites like this.
I love this musical but I don’t think it’ll work as a film.
I am so over the Broadway snobbery. If you want to make a movie musical you have to spend money on big stars and the biggest at proven box office talent. And with Jake and Chris every straight girl and gay man with a libido says hurray!
love Streep, but I want to hear “Children Will Listen” by a great singer/actress. how about Audra McDonald?
First of all, Ihope Marshall learned how NOT to do a musical in his mutilation of Nine. Second, I love Streep and I am sure she can do a good job as the witch. But at 64, I dont see it. If youre going to go for that age, go with the original, Bernadette Peters. Or go with the revival star (and much younger and dynamic) Vanessa Williams. Onthe other hand, James Corden is a BRILLIANT choice for the baker. Lets hope they can find someone as talented as Joanna Gleason to play his wife.
I wish I had your optimism, Steve. While Marshall will likely do a fine job, I just have an excessive amount of resistance to a film version of this material. While it’s the most “fantasy” of Sondheim’s works, I think it’s the least cinematic. Maybe it’s because I think the intimacy of the show can get readily lost, so many of the most effective songs of the show come out of nowhere, unexpected gems, maybe because I fear the shocking developments of the second act will be so tonally different on film that it will be hard for the film to be cohesive. In the stage version, you get that intermission to take yourself out of the moment, so when you immerse yourself again the shift isn’t quite so shocking.
Any way you shake it, though, I’m obviously going to look forward to this adaption and will root for it without reservation. Between this and The Last Five Years, two of my top ten fave musicals will get film treatments.
Maybe if this is successful Streep will do a film version of A Little Night Music. Her version of Send in the Clowns would be highly anticipated indeed.
Can anyone tell me the last time a studio handed the reins of a musical to a straight director?
Fosse…Fosse…Fosse
After that genius/tomcat, there was never a need for a straight male director.
Ahh, how short is our attention span? Baz did Moulin Rouge. But I guess his musicals are more like raves.
Was sort of kidding. Just wish somebody would tap Gondry or Aronofsky to do a musical and see what Condon or Haynes could do with a sci-fi thriller.
I’m not as worried as some of you above. Marshall at least knows how to move a camera, unlike…nevermind.
The casting is interesting, especially the last two additions who wouldn’t necessarily be the standard first choices when casting fairytale “princes.” (Yes, Marsden is one of the first names to come to mind).
Into the Woods was revolutionary for musicals. The movie has to take that another big step forward to be a success and not just crank out a high-grade knock-off.
I am a bit worried, I won’t lie. It’s not all light and fluffly. I think Marshall is a mistake as a director. Guillermo del Toro would have been perfect. Chris Pine and Jake Gyllenhaal are rumored to be the Princes and I just want James Marsden. I have done the show before, and I guess I am just being protective LOL
I hope this is good. I’m not a huge musical fan, but this is a great one. I’m not thrilled with the casting of Streep or Depp. I think Streep would have been excellent in this role circa 1992, but she simply can’t play the youger version of the Witch (and don’t tell me “Meryl Streep can play anything”. She’s a superb actress, even if “The Iron Lady” was a dreaful film, but everybody, even Streep and Daniel Day-Lewis, have limitations). And wasn’t “The Lone Ranger” enough on miscasting Depp for a while? He’s a weak singer, and I have no desrie to see him in self-indulgent quirky mode yet again, playing the Wolf as a cross between Henry Kissinger and Rowlf the Dog, or whatever silly idea strikes him. The only thing that could interest me in a Depp performance again is if he stripped away the silly gimmicks, dropped the Jack Sparrow voices and just acted, like he did so beautifully in “Finding Neverland”
It’s actually James Corden as the Baker and Johnny Depp as the Wolf. I’m very skeptical about this project. I love the musical. But making it into a movie will be hard. Do you cut down on Act 1 and focus on Act 2? Or do you focus on Act 1 and cut down Act 2? I think it would better as a mini-series event where you can do both acts justice. And can Gyllenhaal and Pine sing?
I, too, am very reserved about this being made into a film, unless of course they do something completely daring and release two versions. And then I would applaud them for having balls.
The filmed version available on Netflix Streaming (and other places) is all I need.
The structure of the show is such that I really have trouble envisioning a film version that works. Adaptive choices could be made, but I’m not encouraged by the fact that there is already one obvious change evident, and it’s not a smart one: they’re not double-casting the Wolf and Cinderella’s Prince? That’s… kind of thematically important.
I love the cast so far! This story/musical is so great and I can’t wait to see it adapted into a movie. Was in this production myself once. Interested to see the complete casting…