Principal photography started in England last week for Disney’s new movie version of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.
West End stage stars Frances de la Tour, Simon Russell-Beale and Joanna Riding get parts in the movie.
The big-budget new Hollywood version of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical Into the Woods has gone in to production in the UK.
The A-list movie will get a Christmas Day 2014 release and stars Meryl Streep as the Witch, Emily Blunt as the Baker’s Wife, James Corden as the Baker, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Chris Pine as Cinderella’s Prince, Johnny Depp as the Wolf, Lilla Crawford as Little Red Riding Hood, Daniel Huttlestone as Jack, Tracey Ullman as Jack’s Mother, Christine Baranski as Cinderellas’ Stepmother, Tammy Blanchard as Florinda, MacKenzie Mauzy as Rapunzel and Billy Magnussen as Rapunzel’s Prince.
In addition to Blunt and Corden, a number of British West End stage and film actors are included in the movie including Frances de la Tour as the Giant, Simon Russell Beale as the Baker’s Father, Annette Crosbie as Grandmother, Richard Glover as the Steward, and Joanna Riding as Cinderella’s Mother.
Frances de la Tour was recently in Alan Bennett’s People at the National Theatre. Simon Russell Beale has just completed Pinter’s The Hothouse at the Trafalgar Studios and will play King Lear at the National Theatre this January directed by Sam Mendes. Joanna Riding was recently in The Pajama Game in Chichester and has been cast in the forthcoming new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Stephen Ward at the Aldwych Theatre.
Shooting for Into the Woods started at Dover Castle in Kent last week and included James Corden, Emily Blunt and Chris Pine.
Disney has released the first official image for the movie, featuring Meryl Streep as the Witch.
Chicago director Rob Marshall is helming the film, with cinematography by Dion Beebe, film editing by Wyatt Smith, production design by John Myhre and costume design by Colleen Atwood.
The movie is based on composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s much-loved musical twist on the Brothers Grimm’s fairytales, with a screenplay by James Lapine who wrote the show’s original book. Sondheim has written a brand new song for the musical.
INTO THE WOODS CASTING
The all-star cast includes:
- Meryl Streep (“The Iron Lady,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “August: Osage County”) as the Witch
- Emily Blunt (“Looper,” “The Young Victoria,” “The Devil Wears Prada”) as the Baker’s Wife
- James Corden (Broadway’s “One Man, Two Guvnors,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Gavin & Stacey”) as the Baker
- Anna Kendrick (“Pitch Perfect,” “Up in the Air”) as Cinderella
- Chris Pine (“Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Jack Ryan”) as Cinderella’s Prince
- Johnny Depp (“Pirates of the Caribbean” films, “The Lone Ranger,” “Sweeney Todd”) as the Wolf
- Lilla Crawford (Broadway’s “Annie”) as Little Red Riding Hood
- Daniel Huttlestone (“Les Misérables”) as Jack
- Tracey Ullman as Jack’s Mother
- Christine Baranski (“Mamma Mia!,” “Chicago” “The Good Wife”) as Cinderellas’ Stepmother
- MacKenzie Mauzy (“Brother’s Keeper,” Broadway’s “Next to Normal”) as Rapunzel
- Billy Magnussen (Broadway’s “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “The East”) as Rapunzel’s Prince
