This is the exact reason I still have Google Alerts.
Disney announced today that Hunchback is the next film in their roaster to get a live-action remake. I have been waiting for this day for a long time.
Here is what is know so far. Josh Gad is produce the film. Just a quick note back in late 2015 I did a post which discussed a fan casting that appeared in my google alerts and Josh Gad was their pick for Quasimodo
you can read it here
Now I couldn’t see this casting pick at the time but Gad is an actor so if he DOES follow suit like so many men who have played or have aspired to play Quasimodo to showcase their acting prowess and have a hand in the production, he might be fine in the role.
Just a note, he may not play Quasimodo but there is a trend that men spearheading Hunchback versions do so to play the role, Gad may just want to produce, we will have to wait and see.
Another piece of information we have is they Tony- winning Playwright David Henry Hwang is writing the screenplay and the film will simply be called Hunchback. Like the 1997 version.
Hwang’s work include Chinglish, Yellow Face, Kung Fu, Golden Child, The Dance of the Railroad. He also has worked on Aida, Flower Drum Song, Disney’s Tarzan and M. Butterfly.
It would seem that the remake will take its cue from the 1996 movie and the book and not the stage production.
Also this version will be a musical with Menken and Schwartz heading the music. So that is good.
What do you think? Are you over the Disney live-action remake trend? Are you excited? Are you afraid Disney is going to ruin it?
Thoughts and feelings welcome.
Source – https://www.cnet.com/news/hunchback-of-notre-dame-next-to-get-disney-remake-treatment/
Source – https://deadline.com/2019/01/hunchback-movie-disney-live-action-david-henry-hwang-josh-gad-alan-menken-stephen-schwartz-1202536031/
I’m a little torn. The original, animated adaptation is one of my favorite Disney movies because of the music and the art/animation…it’s one of my favorite movies. My big issue is the tone of a live-action remake-live action is still thought of as a more mature medium than animation-live action can be aged up, darker; different themes can be explored. I’ve seen a couple of the Disney live-action re-whatevers and I haven’t been impressed. Maleficent was a good theory, but not a good movie. Beauty and The Beast could have been the aged up version but tried to answer too many questions and the visuals weren’t impressive. I think that HoND is one of those either go big or go home situations. It HAS to be visually impressive, the acting HAS to be phenomenal, the music HAS to be the epitome of emotionally moving compositions. There are a lot of tone issues that the animated version has, that I hope Disney does address; there needs to be comic relief, but not the gargoyles…just not the damn gargoyles. It gives the audience a break from the dark, heavy themes. Am I glad that Disney has plans to move forward with a live-action adaptation? I wouldn’t say that I’m glad…ecstatic would be a better word. I’m glad that we could possibly get a new adaptation sometime in the not so distant future. But is this going to be another announced adaptation that goes nowhere or are we actually going to see it progress to the big screen?
I hope they use michael arden and his friends
my dream is that they use the cast of the musical (michael arden and crew)
Hi Jess,
To be honest, I’ve been scratching my head about the Disney live-action movies. I saw the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast and felt like it just didn’t live up to the legacy of the original animated movie. So I’ve been asking myself whether or not I would even want a live-action Hunchback remake. Their 1996 animated version is not only my favorite Disney movie ever but in fact my favorite movie ever. I thought it’d bum me out to see a movie just not live up to what I think was one of their best movies.
As it turns out when I got the news that they were doing a live-action remake and that it would be a musical I was over the moon. Am I a little worried that they’ll ruin it? I’m not sure it will be as great as the original animated movie, but in my mind, nothing will ever ruin that movie. But ultimately I’m just really excited! I can’t wait to see who they cast and I can’t wait to be able to hear a new version of the soundtrack I love. I did see one fan casting on Twitter that wants Tom Holland as Quasimodo, Zendaya as Esmeralda, Liam Hemsworth as Phoebus, and Charles Dance as Frollo. Thoughts on that? I’m also curious to see if they decide to change the story in any way, or if they go back to the source material roots and kill off everyone Victor Hugo style. I somehow don’t think they will, but considering they did this with the stage musical, who knows?
I really can’t wait to see what they do and I wouldn’t miss it.