Stephen Sondheim’s classic fairy tale musical Into the Woods has been gracing the stage since 1986 with multiple attempts to get a film version off the ground ever since. Well, now that dream is becoming a reality as the big screen adaptation of the musical has finally begun filming under the direction of Rob Marshall (Chicago), starring a cast that includes Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, and many more.
Today, via The Film Stage and Comic Book Movie, we have the first photos and video from the set, as well as the first official still of Meryl Streep as The Witch. The pics give us a great look at the costumes, while the video gives us a little behind the scenes look and a snippet of Chris Pines’ performance as Cinderella’s Prince. The still of Streep as The Witch also gives us an idea of how the makeup is going to look, which, as those familiar with the musical know, luckily won’t be covering up her face for the entire film.
For the most part, I like what I’m seeing so far. The costumes look amazing and Pine seems to be settling into the role pretty well. As far as Streep’s makeup is concerned, they didn’t go as extreme as I thought they were going to. Perhaps they didn’t want to make her too unrecognizable for that portion of the film. However, it’s still very early and this is not much to judge from.
Most will be familiar with the original stage show that starred the great Bernadette Peters as The Witch, where it’s worth noting that they made her completely unrecognizable under the makeup. While the songs are not particularly catchy, it remains a delightful musical that could do well on the big screen given the right treatment.
There are one or two other concerns I have about it though, with those being that the actors they have cast as Jack and Red Riding Hood are much younger than those who have played the role before. Daniel Huttlestone, who just turned 14, will be playing the role of Jack, while Lilla Crawford, who is even younger, will be Red Riding Hood. Both have proven themselves to be decent singers (Huttlestone had a small part in last year’s Les Miserables, while Crawford has played Annie on Broadway), but as to whether or not they have the comic skill to pull it off remains to be seen.
I still have high hopes that this adaptation will be a great success. With a cast that also includes Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt, James Corden, and Tracey Ullman, how could it not be?
In the meantime, check out all of the goodies for Into The Woods below and start counting down the days until the film hits theaters on December 25th, 2014.
