While it might seem as though Disney is mostly occupied making live-action versions of its animated classics, the studio is also getting into business with people interested in original new ideas. Or in this case, a mash-up of two existing ones. David Oyelowo is on working with Moonlight story writer Tarell Alvin McCraney on a musical called Cyrano The Moor.
As the title might suggest, this appears to blend Edmond Rostand's 1897 play about the self-doubting poet who helps a handsome man woo the woman he secretly wants to win over himself, and William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello. It's early days still, but according to Deadline, the resulting mixture will be set in Bristol in the 19th century.
It's certainly an intriguing proposition – Oyelowo has been doing and driving interesting work and McCraney is a proven writing talent whose work spurred Moonlight to Oscar glory (he shared a trophy for the screenplay with director Barry Jenkins). The combination of the two, and the idea itself is certainly promising.
Next up for Oyelowo are movies such as Gringo, Chaos Walking and the film formerly known as God Particle, which is now an untitled entry in the Cloverfield shared universe.
[David Oyelowo and Gugu Mbatha-Raw join God Particle](David Oyelowo and Gugu Mbatha-Raw join God Particle)