Even though it featured both the laziest performance of Johnny Depp‘s career (in which the actor admitted he was still playing Jack Sparrow for the “stupid money” they pay him) and an even more lazy attempt to make a chase scene with a horse and carriage in the middle of London interesting, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides did gross over $1 billion, and Rob Marshall did direct it.
So Disney, understandably, wants to stay in the Rob Marshall business. This time around, it’s a Stephen Sondheim musical – the classic Into the Woods to be exact – they would like him to “take on.” I put take on in quotes because, well, you’ve seen Rob Marshall movies. Take on? Like the way Marshall took on the 8 1/2-inspired musical Nine? In which Daniel Day-Lewis was so poorly miscast we almost forgot how talented he was before he made that movie? Like that? Okay then.
Into the Woods is a musical that interweaves fairytale stories and characters, including Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood and Jack (as in the Beanstalk), in a narrative involving four wishes and the lengths to which these magical cares will do to make them come true. It premiered on Broadway in 1987, and Hollywood has been trying to figure out a film adaptation ever since.
No cast is attached as of yet. James Lapine, who co-wrote the musical with Sondheim, is currently working on the screenplay for Marshall’s adaptation. This project is part of Marshall and his producing partner John DeLuca‘s two-year, first-look deal with Disney, part of their own production banner LUCAMAR as well [THR].
All of this said, Marshall’s Thin Man adaptation, starring Mr. Depp, is still in the works and may still come first. Marshall and Billy Ray are nearing completion on a first draft for the film (Rachel Weisz has been thought of for the female lead), a new take on the popular detective comedy franchise from the 1930s/40s starring William Powell and Myrna Loy.
Which Marshall project do you want to see made first?