This week, it was announced that Disney is currently developing a new musical film, which is described as a contemporary adaptation of a Shakespeare play. At the helm will be director Alex Timbers, a two-time Tony nominee who recently directed Peter and the Starcatcher for Disney.
Timbers is a well-known Broadway director whose work, in addition to Starcatcher, includes the Broadway shows Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (which Timbers also co-wrote) and The Pee-Wee Herman Show. Adapting Shakespeare for the new film will not be new territory for Timbers; this summer, Timbers will direct and write a musical adaptation of Love Labour’s Lost for the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park programming, and he recently staged a reading of The Last Goodbye, a new rock musical adaptation of Romeo & Juliet.
About the new film, Timbers commented to Playbill.com:
“Developing The Last Goodbye – a Romeo and Juliet with the music of Jeff Buckley, I’ve been so lucky to get to explore the possibilities of combining Shakespeare with contemporary music. This Disney film takes that concept even further and turns it on its head in an ingenious way.”
Timber also commented to Deadline.com, who broke the news of the film, saying:
“The script stretches the boundaries of the movie musical and demands the sort of surprising visuals and raucous spectacle I love to create in my own stage musicals.”
The still-untitled new film will be written by Amy Talkington, and will be produced by Offspring Entertainment’s Adam Shankman, Jennifer Gibgot, Jon Chu, and Matt Smith. Stay tuned for more news on this incredibly interesting new film.
