The Princess Bride is set to hit the stage, Disney Theatrical Productions announced today.
It is not clear yet whether the tale of a daring pirate, a reluctant bride and an even more reluctant Fred Savage will be adapted as a play or a musical, nor has a timeline for the production been revealed, according to Variety.
Romantic Movies That Men Should Watch: The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride has proven to be an enduring delight and a beloved favorite to multiple generations, said Thomas Schumacher, president and producer of Disney Theatrical Productions, in a statement on Broadway.com. What [author] William Goldman created is first and foremost a celebration of storytelling; what better place to spin that tale than on the stage?
I am thrilled that the next chapter in the life of The Princess Bride will unfold on the stage, Goldman added. Buttercup, Westley and all of Florin are in the best of hands.
Currently, Disney is also producing stage adaptations of Shakespeare in Love, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo and Freaky Friday. Its production of Aladdin is currently showing in Toronto ahead of a planned Broadway run in the spring.
In the mid-2000s, The Princess Bride composer Adam Guettel attempted to developed the film into a musical. The book for that production was written by Goldman, who wrote the original 1973 novel and 1987 movie screenplay, as well as screenplays for All the Presidents Men, Marathon Man and Misery. The Disney production is unrelated to that attempt.
The Guettel-penned version of The Princess Bride fizzled out in 2007 when the composer and author had a falling-out. At the time, the New York Post reported that Goldman was seeking 75 percent of the authors share of royalties. It was one of my most pleasurable, exciting experiences writing that score, and its now all lying unused in a desk drawer, Guettel told The Toronto Star about the productionlast year. Every writer has to have one of those disastrous experiences like that, I suppose. That was mine. . . I took six months away from work after that. I couldnt even think about writing a single note of music.