Gina Lollobrigida who played Esmeralda in the 1956 version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame passed away today at the age of 95.
You can read her obituary here
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/16/gina-lollobrigida-obituary
which they use a picture of her as Esmeralda.
This post is more off the cuff than normal
Here is a news article about what is I guess known about the not-newest Hunchback version, which is the Broken Lizard version, but the Disney one
https://movieweb.com/disney-hunchback-of-notre-dame-everything-we-know/
So here are some core bits points.
According to this article fans “want’ Josh Gad to play Quasimodo. I’m not on instagram, nor am I all that plugged into what is the cultural zeitgeist of fan casting for Quasimodo is on the internet (which I don’t think is all that up there in relevance.) With respect to Gad, he would not be my first pick. I did listen to a podcast from awhile ago that tangentially mentioned him playing Clopin based on instagram stuff.
I only pegged him as Quasimodo in the past because he was making a push for this adaptation and it just seemed to a role that male actors want to play, for good reason. Also if you read a recent casting post I made, Gad is in the age range for Quasimodo actors, as he is 41. A year older than the average of 40.
However the article has no insight on casting but there is some info on the crew. Also the article says that the movie has a release date of July 19th, 2024.
Also an article from The Wrap (which I’m not linking because of laziness) put Notre Dame de Paris as 3rd (or maybe 4th I can’t recall, this why you shouldn’t be lazy like me) worst production of 2022 in New York City. It is very interesting how mixed the NYC reaction was to the show. I do get that it’s not a perfect show, I still love it but I can understand other POVs on it. The production isn’t super concern whether or not the plot makes sense but it’s more about emotions. And maybe that is an excuse but if people/theater critics didn’t like the show then so be it.
So there is some new nuggets for the end of the year.
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About a year ago, in November 2021 it was announced that Broken Lizard was making a satirical take on Hunchback. The Film was dubbed Quasi.
Now if you are like me and I know you are, you keep up with all things Hunchback. From news of the adaptions and so on. For about the last decade there has been eight or so announcements on new Hunchback Tv/Film projects. The Broken Lizard one was the last one and so far the only one to get a release date.
Quasi hits Hulu (US) on April 20th 2023. It will be on other streaming platforms for other countries so no worries. There are also actors listed but no roles given. Like I can guess who is playing Esmeralda (or a character like Esmeralda) but I don’t know for sure.
So in 5 months I better know what that axe means in the logo because I’m puzzled. Mayhaps I need to read the novel again because axe iconography is not something I recall. Bells, sure, gargoyles, hell yeah, cathedral stuff, yup, gallows, a bit bleak but yes, even fire I get but an axe? No.
Also what is a little maddening, at least for me, is that the last film adaptation of Hunchback to come out a little over 20 years was a parody. In the interim between versions nothing and now two comedic takes back to back even with a 20+ year gap. Kinda odd.
So Quasi will be the next Hunchback film version to get released since the 90s.
Source – https://deadline.com/2022/11/broken-lizard-quasi-film-release-date
Site Update- I’m sorry I haven’t done a Magical Adventure post in a while time just gets away from me but I do mean to finish it I just don’t know when. I’m remorseful that it taking me so long. I have no excuses though.
Follow thehunchblogHere is my super off the cuff Tepid Reactions or Tepid Takes to the some new stuff from Disney
Let’s start with the newest remake on the block, Pinocchio. Groans Apparently there is also new Pinocchio this year including a Paul Shore movie, a dark looking video and the upcoming stop motion Del Toro version. I half think Disney rushed this to get ahead of Del Toro’s
Now personally I only ever saw the 1940 Pinocchio once in school when I was a kid. I never liked it. I like Figaro and Monstro end of list. So this was always going to be super pass for me. I’ve seen reviews on this and they do not recommend it. So yeah skip it do anything else with your time, you can never get your time back. (The video is from a reviewer who saw the movie I just didn’t want to post the trailer or get picture)
Did Once upon a time do the live action thing better? Remember Pinocchio was a big part of the first season. In fact he is the reason why the story happens the way it does…..
The Little mermaid teaser trailer. The ONLY issue I have is the lighting. It’s dark. Why? Because it’s a teaser trailer and the effects are not done. It could why her tail is super da glow but everything is not because Ariel tail color is like a point pride. I think I read that somewhere.
Ultimately I do not care who Disney casts, I really do not. No one cared with Once upon time when they did the same thing. The trouble is did Once do these live action remakes better??? I think they did……
I will save judgment for a full trailer.
The Enchanted sequel trailer….. sort of liked it no lies. Probably will watch when it comes out. Do I think it will be the best movie of 2022? No probably not but I doubt it will be the worst and that is at least something.
I’m most liking missing stuff. I know there was Star wars news. I know there was a news piece that the Hunchback version is still in the works. Which good or terrible is fine for me. THOUGH it would be interesting how the studio could make it worse. Can one make the gargoyles worse? Yes. Or could they create something far worse than the gargoyles? Yes.
I do think that since Hunchback is a lesser movie in the studio’s option because of money that they will just leave the production to it own thing which could result in a better end production. OR the executives could meddle as means of over correcting giving us something very bad. We shall see when ever this movie comes out with some pictures or a rushed teaser trailer to show investors or the D23 crowd.
Follow thehunchblogWay back in early 2019, I did a post on the Hunchback movie/Tv versions that had been announced, The Tale of Six Hunchbacks, and for the record I did miss one, so there were actually seven versions until now. A new version has been announced.
Broken Lizard, a comedy Troupe known for Super Troopers is making a satirical version of Hugo’s novel. This upcoming version is called Quasi.
According to deadline ‘The plot follows a hapless hunchback who only yearns for love, but finds himself in the middle of a murderous feud between the Pope and the King of France when each orders the hunchback to kill the other.’
This version is clearly not following the book by seemingly any means but who knows since that is a just the set-up.
Disney will release the film on Star+ in Latin America, and on Disney+ in all other territories. Star+ in Latin America, and on Disney+ in all other international territories. It will be a Hulu original in the States.
I should make it very, very clear that this version is not the first time Hunchback has been made into a satirical or parody movie version. In fact the last movie version to be released was Quasimodo d’el Paris which was a modern parody version in 1999.
It does seem very, very odd that if Quasi next version to be released that there are two back to back spoof Hunchback versions to come out with over 20+ year gap in between.
Just a quick recap of the Hunchback movie/tv versions that have been announced since the formation of this blog, there was the Josh Brolin version, The Max Ryan version, Peter Chernin version, The Peter Dinklage/Charles Dance version, The Tom Hollander version, the Idris Elba version and the Disney live-action version being spearheaded by Josh Gad.
There has been no news other than Gad saying that Disney Live-action was still in the works as of January 2021. Which is fine, better the production don’t rush it.
Of course I would welcome any and all of these versions. No matter how Jazzy or if there was a character called “Figment” in it who was not the Epcot dragon, I think, I don’t actually know for sure.
I will withhold any opinion of this Broken Lizard’s version till a trailer or pictures are out, or at least I will try. But it will be great to get a new movie version.
What do you think? Excited for Quasi or just excited for a new version?
Follow thehunchblogThis is the exact reason I still have Google Alerts.
Disney announced today that Hunchback is the next film in their roaster to get a live-action remake. I have been waiting for this day for a long time.
Here is what is know so far. Josh Gad is produce the film. Just a quick note back in late 2015 I did a post which discussed a fan casting that appeared in my google alerts and Josh Gad was their pick for Quasimodo
you can read it here
Now I couldn’t see this casting pick at the time but Gad is an actor so if he DOES follow suit like so many men who have played or have aspired to play Quasimodo to showcase their acting prowess and have a hand in the production, he might be fine in the role.
Just a note, he may not play Quasimodo but there is a trend that men spearheading Hunchback versions do so to play the role, Gad may just want to produce, we will have to wait and see.
Another piece of information we have is they Tony- winning Playwright David Henry Hwang is writing the screenplay and the film will simply be called Hunchback. Like the 1997 version.
Hwang’s work include Chinglish, Yellow Face, Kung Fu, Golden Child, The Dance of the Railroad. He also has worked on Aida, Flower Drum Song, Disney’s Tarzan and M. Butterfly.
It would seem that the remake will take its cue from the 1996 movie and the book and not the stage production.
Also this version will be a musical with Menken and Schwartz heading the music. So that is good.
What do you think? Are you over the Disney live-action remake trend? Are you excited? Are you afraid Disney is going to ruin it?
Thoughts and feelings welcome.
Source – https://www.cnet.com/news/hunchback-of-notre-dame-next-to-get-disney-remake-treatment/
Source – https://deadline.com/2019/01/hunchback-movie-disney-live-action-david-henry-hwang-josh-gad-alan-menken-stephen-schwartz-1202536031/
Idris Elba
A few days ago it was announced that Idris Elba is going to direct, star, and produce, and create the music for an upcoming version of Hunchback. I want to make a joke about him catering the project too but only because The Critic TV show.
This version will be a Netflix original and will be a modern version, so akin to Quasimodo d’el Paris though I doubt it will be a comedy BUT it was the last movie version to be made. However according the vulture and THR articles it will be a “sonic and musical experience,” so a musical.
This will not be Elba’s first foray in directing, producing, or music. He has directed Yardie and the Netflix comedy series Turn up Charlie. He has a music credit on Jay-Z’s American Gangster soundtrack album back in 2007 as well as other credits. He is also a DJ and a musician. Elba is producing the film alongside his producing partner Ana Garanito, Fred Berger (La La Land), and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Midnight Special).
The project is also being written by Michael Mitnick, who has written screenplay for The Giver, The Current War and The American.
While this is exciting, I would like to see a release date before I get too hyped.
What are your thoughts on this project? A Modern Musical of Hunchback on Netflix? Or are you more hyped to find what what Josh Brolin means by “Jazzy”? Or making sense of the roles in the Max Ryan version?
(Sources)
http://www.vulture.com/2018/05/idris-elba-playing-hunchback-of-notre-dame-for-netflix.html
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/idris-elba-star-hunchback-notre-dame-netflix-1111638
http://collider.com/idris-elba-hunchback-of-notre-dame-netflix/
Josh Brolin Interview for Men in Black
Funny story, I posted the screenrant article but in the span of 10 minutes from me finding the article (which was an hour old when I got my daily google alert) to me posting it on Facebook, it got removed but I did find this denofgeek article which says pretty much the same thing. Here is a screenshot just prove the screenrant article was on googlenews.
So here we are with Brolin back with his Quasimodo vanity project.
Apparently the point of contention was the choice of director. Zhang Yimou, who directed Hero, House of Flying Daggers and The Great Wall, was not approved by the studio and the project just fizzed out. That’s the story.
Brolin hopes to make the movie bigger than before which a weird thing to say given the director he picked originally but sure whatever let’s go with what Brolin says. I hope it will still be “jazzy” like he intimated years ago.
However according to the denofgeeks article this project is still in limbo, so let’s not get too excited.
Also, also there was a weird tidbit in the screenrant article, which you can’t read BUT did exist, in that article there was mention of Mark Ruffalo being linked to a live-action version of the Disney version. And here is the article on that,
https://screenrant.com/disney-quasimodo-hunchback-notre-dame-remake/
It just speculation. Though oddly that Esmeralda POV project is getting mentions in these articles.
Anyway all this “news” is just speculation. Until there is more information don’t except a new version unless it’s the Dinklage/Dance version or the Hollander version. Those projects are too recent to be dead yet, maybe.
Tom Hollander
This makes the fifth version in production that I have seen since starting this blog. Just a quick recap of the other versions that haven’t been made; there was the Jazzy Brolin version, the Esmeralda POV from Peter Chernin, the Max Ryan version, and the Charles Dance and Peter Dinklage project. Aside from Dinklage and Dance project which was only announced back in October of 2017, the other projects seem to be in development hell or ceased to be. In fact the most recent news from Brolin+Hunchback search in google news is that Brolin liken his character Thanos in Avengers Infinity Wars to Quasimodo. (Souce)
So about a month ago it was announced that Tom Hollander was going to produce and star in another TV movie version of Hunchback. This version will air on ITV which is the same network that aired Downton Abbey.
Considering it’s an actor producing the project and set to play the titular role (at least in English), this does seem like a vanity project akin to the Brolin and Max Ryan versions. Unlike the those versions, Hollander does seem like he will make for a more convincing Quasimodo even though he will be playing a character 30 years younger.
Hollander has a very extensive filmography. He’s probably most known for playing Mr.Collins in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley. He has also been in Night Manger and Taboo. I have seen in Ab Fab the Last Shout and the BBC version of Wives and Daughters but he has lots of credits.
Hollander does seem more like actor and less a celebrity as he goes into a role without ego. He a bit like Rufus Sewell in that regard, where you see him in a role and you don’t know it’s him.
So while the track record for a Hunchback movie versions getting made hasn’t been great, I hope this version does get made. Though I hope they all get made because I still want to know what a “jazzy” Hunchback will be like. Or if there is still a Giant in the Max Ryan version or if that was an IMDB lie.
But do you think? Are you excited by this news and hope that this is the version that FINALLY gets made?
Peter Dinklage
It’s been announce that Game of Thrones stars Peter Dinklage and Charles dance will produce a TV drama called Quasimodo based on The Hunchback. Now we have been burned before on Hunchback versions like with Brolin and that one from Esmeralda point of view and I don’t know what’s up with the Max Ryan version. There is also that universal monster cinematic universe and MAYBE. maybe a Disney live-action version is could maybe happen, maybe. However I’m excited and I hope this gets made.
Charles Dance
I do like the idea of Dinklage and Dance starring as Quasimodo and Frollo. Though they wouldn’t super idea to the roles as Quasimodo is liken to a giant and Frollo is mid-aged from a late renaissance point of view, still I think they could act the roles well pending on how the story is adapted.
Also Charles Dance was one my Hypothetical casting for Frollo and I still maintain that he would be a great Frollo. And oddly George R.R. Martin did allude to Quasimodo when Cersei refer to Tyrion in A Feast for Crows “swing from a rope in the Sept of Baelor” and Dinklage plays Tyrion on the HBO show of Game of Thrones. You can read that post here. So if they do take the roles it would be great casting.
You can read more of this story below;
http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/game-of-thrones/268269/peter-dinklage-and-charles-dance-to-executive-produce-tv-drama-quasimodoFollow thehunchblog
