Tony-winning M. Butterfly playwright David Henry Hwang has been set by Disney to write Hunchback, a live-action musical adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel. Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz will write the music. Mandeville is producing along with Josh Gad. I had heard that Gad, a star of the Mandeville-produced blockbuster Beauty and the Beast, might play the lead character, but insiders at the studio said no casting is solid at this point.
The original animated movie was really dark – I wonder if this version will lighten it up, or lean harder into the sadness? With Gad in the mix, I assume light, but, we’ll see…