Thanks primarily to Disney's success with its live-action adaptations, fairy tales are big right now on the big screen, and Fox 2000 has nabbed the rights to a new musical that will see writer Hans Christian Andersen – the source for many of the stories – wrapped up in his own fantasy world. And if a deal comes together, Ansel Elgort could play the lead.
The project originated with Wicked composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, and Mary Poppins Returns writer David Magee, who will work on the script, while Chicago producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron put it all together.
Given Elgort's Baby Driver experience and his own enthusiasm as a musical artist, he feels like the right pick for the lead in what is described as an epic musical fantasy that sees Andersen trapped in the world of his own imagination, and meeting some of his famous characters as he tries to get back to reality. The hope of all involved is to turn it into a movie franchise (cross that off your bingo card) and a Broadway musical. According to Deadline, Schwartz and Magee toured a presentation around studios that included talk of the story and then a piano-aided performance of some of the songs. Suffice to say, several studios put in bids. There's no timeline for this one yet, but expect Fox to fast-track it while musicals and fantasies still have heat.
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