A few major names are aligning for Walt Disney Pictures’ planned adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s smash Broadway musical Into the Woods. Variety reports that director Rob Marshall is negotiating with Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep to star in the film, which is still trying to figure out its production start date.
The musical might want to wait for Depp, who has Transcendence in the immediate future and is expected to move on to the crime thriller Black Mass next. That would allow him to collaborate with Marshall on Into The Woods in early 2014. The duo, of course, also worked on the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, while Marshall has previously helmed Broadway adaptations of Chicago and Nine.
Teaming Depp with Streep would be massive, obviously, and having Marshall tackling Sondheim is noteworthy. The director is bringing back David Krane, who worked on Chicago and Nine to do the music. James Lapine, who did the book for the Broadway show, is penning the movie’s screenplay.
For those who are unaware, Into the Woods is a mash-up of memorable fairy tales that would cast Depp as a childless baker who ventures into the woods to confront the witch (Streep) who put a curse on him and his wife. Along the way, he encounters almost every major storybook character under the sun, from Rapunzel to Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood.
If Tim Burton were directing this, I’d be slightly discouraged because you could imagine EXACTLY how it’s going to look before it hits theaters. But if Depp’s willing to try a full-blown musical with Marshall, I’m more than a little intrigued. Are you?
