Disney is Remaking Hunchback

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This is the exact reason I still have Google Alerts.

Quasimodo during Out There Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Quasimodo during Out There Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

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

Josh Gad for Quasimodo picture image
Josh Gad

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 to play Quasimodo

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Idris Elba picture imahe

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/

 

Brolin is at it again

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Josh Brolin Interview for Men in Black picture image

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.

 

A New British Hunchback Version???

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Tom Hollander picture image

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?

 

Source 

New Hunchback TV show in the works

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Peter Dinklage Quasimodo picture image

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 picture image

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-quasimodo

Universal adds Hunchback and Phantom to Dark Universe

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Quasimodo (Lon Chaney), Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller) and Gudule (Gladya Brockwell) Hunchback of Notre Dame 1923 picture image

Quasimodo (Lon Chaney), Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller) and Gudule (Gladya Brockwell) Hunchback of Notre Dame 1923

It’s been announces that Universal is  adding Hunchback and Phantom to their own Universal Universe monster movie franchise a.k.a Dark Universe. In case you don’t know it’s Universal answer to the in-universe movies like Marvel and DC.  This news comes out days before The Mummy hits theaters.

The 1923 version of Hunchback and 1925 version of Phantom were the movies that kicked off the monster crave but they are a little different than the other movies. For one thing they are not supernatural creatures who are “monsters.” They are both deform dude who fall in love. We can only speculate as to what direction the movies take them.

Personally I have seen at thee other Hunchback movies fail to get off the ground or in  development  hell. So until there is more information I won’t get too excited but it’s hard not to has there hasn’t been a major Hunchback movie since 1999 if you want to count the French parody. And if you don’t since Disney’s 1996 movie.

Considering the studio  and the in-universe movies set-up, this will very likely get made, unless The Mummy tanks at the Box-office.  No word on when it will be release so that Max Ryan version could come out first.  IMDB still says its in pre-production but IMDB isn’t reliable. RIP Josh Brolin’s Jazzy version.

Also I like Phantom too.

 

Read more here: https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/6/15746148/universal-dark-universe-phantom-of-the-opera-hunchback-of-notre-dame 

Hunchback News of 2016

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While a good portion of 2016 has sucked, Hunchback of Notre Dame related news has been ok throughout the year especially in the musical area

Quasimodo as the King of Fools Topsy Turvy Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Quasimodo as the King of Fools Topsy Turvy Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

First thing that is fairy big in 2016 is that the Disney movie turned 20 years old.

Hunchback of Notre Dame Cast Recording Album picture image

Hunchback of Notre Dame Cast Recording Album

Then there were a lot with the American version of the  Disney movie. The cast album for the Papermill’s version came out and while the show didn’t go to Broadway it did go to regional theaters. So far it has been performed at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine, which I can say was great. Also Utah’s Tuacahn Amphitheater,  California Music Circle of Sacramento had a deaf actor playing Quasimodo.

The show was also  performed on the international level at Frederica Theatre in Denmark. There should be more international performance in 2017 like at Budapest Operaetta. Next year there should be casts.

There was all an amateur cast version done in Nevada over Thanksgiving. Read more Here.

But it’s wasn’t all about the Disney musical, The Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York put on a production that reference the 2016 political climate like character named Governor LeTrump. Read about it here.

Hiba Tawaji as Esmeralda & Jay as Clopin 2016/2017 Notre Dame de Paris picture image

Hiba Tawaji as Esmeralda & Jay as Clopin

Then of course there is the other big Hunchback musical adaptation, Notre Dame de Paris. It started the year with the a French cast in Korea and a return of some of teh original Italian cast for another run of the Italian version. The biggest news for Notre Dame de Paris was the show’s return to Paris with a new cast though with some veteran of the show like Daniel Lavoie reprising his role as Frollo. The show announced it was going to have a production tour around Quebec.   

Sadly there have been no movie related news which is weird since that Max Ryan movie was supposed to start filming this past year and nothing. The only thing is that the role of “The Giant” is no longer listed on the IMDB page but there is still Advisor, thief, cripple, vagrant and Spike. I have no idea what any that mean but oh well we’ll just have to see with that one.

There of course there are the Hunchback news story that are referential. The big one was Rebecca Dann who suffers from Kyphosocollosis, which causes a huge curve in the spine,  won a photography contest and met Stephen Hawkings. Her self-portrait was called “I’m Fine” and it showcased her.  Read More Here. 

Hopefully 2017 will have more Hunchback news, hopefully movie related news but musical news is just as good.

Before we end the year let’s have a fun poll

 

Which of the Hypothetical casting ideas from 2016 was your favorite? Or which one of these casting would you most what to see actually happen? Just leave a comment.

Rupert Grint for Quasimodo 

Anna Kendrick for Esmeralda

Michael McElHatton for Frollo 

Francia Raisa for Esmeralda 

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau for Phoebus

Freddie Highmore for Gringoire

Sarah Bolger for Fleur de Lys

Gemma Arterton for Esmeralda

Terrance Zdunich for Gringoire

Gigi Radics for Esmeralda

Hmm, only one Frollo this year, we’ll have to at least double that in 2017.

Hunchback News of 2015

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There has actually been some decent amount of Hunchback related stuff that popped up in 2015 opposed the last few years where there has been much other that Josh Brolin popping up to say something about his movie that will never be I’m guessing.

So 2015 started off with the sad news. On October 24th 2015 Maureen O’Hara, who played Esmeralda in the 1939 movie version of Hunchback passed away at the age of  95.  The 1939 version is considered to be one of the best Hunchback version. It was also O’Hara’s American debut.

Musicals next; The Notre Dame de Paris 10 year anniversary tour in Korea which was French language. Notre Dame de Paris in Asian isn’t anything new but this was the first time in a while for a French Production to be presented.  There also a new Italian cast the uses member from the original cast. But that is set not next year, but this cast has been catching my attention and just recently did that cast come out so yeah, I’m including it here.

There was also the Disney Hunchback musical at the Paper mills Play house in March and April. Since it didn’t go to broadway there will more local productions so keep an ear out if one should be performed near you and it still might go to broadway someday, never say die. Also the cast recording of the Paper Mills and Lo Jolla casting is coming out next month so preorder here.

Also in April, Josh Groban did a cover of Le Temps de Cathedral on his Stages album. I wouldn’t say it did much to help Notre Dame de Paris’ popularity but people who didn’t know might have heard it so that is great.

Let’s what else. Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling named their baby Esmeralda which they directly sited Hunchback as being a favorite novel of their. First is a little funning because I a while ago I was looking up Celebrities and their favorite books and Hunchback never came up. Les Mis did. I sort of abandoned the idea due to how pretentious and/or how self severing their picks were, so I’m glad some actors liked the book.

But the BIGGEST news of the year is that there are 2, not one but 2 Hunchback movies in the works. One has been in the works for a while and is a independent movie from some actor who was in the second Sex and the City movie, Max Ryan. This version I don’t even know what to say. Everyt ime I try to make sense of it I’m reminded that there is a giant and a figment in the cast list and The Mask directors is going to direct so my expectations for this movie are low to hoping ti hilariously bad, but we’ll see maybe we’ll be surprised and it will be a really good version. Strangers things happen.

The second movie seems to be an off-shot of an idea for Once Upon a Time from 2013, a movie for Esmeralda’s POV, which I’m excited about. There hasn’t been a Esmeralda centric Hunchback version since the 1950’s and that was mostly a French movie. For Hollywood there has been a Hunchback version focusing on Esmeralda since Theda Bara’s 1917 movie The Darling of Paris. Not much is known about this movie other than it’s being spearhead by Peter Cherin and will focus on Esmeralda. I hope this movie is good and happens, you never know with movies.

Let’s hope 2016 has more Hunchback stuff!

Peter Chernin to make Esmeralda POV movie

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Esmeralda (Gina Lollobrigida) with Phoebus (Jean Danet), 1956 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Esmeralda (Gina Lollobrigida) with Phoebus (Jean Danet), 1956 Hunchback of Notre Dame

Last week it was announced  that one Peter Chernin was developing a new Hunchback of Notre Dame movie from Esmeralda’s perspective. This is a big deal for a few reasons.

First and foremost this idea originally was announced in 2013 as an idea for Once Upon a Time. Once it was announced that was the last anyone heard about it. It’s very unclear if this movie idea came from the Once Upon a Time idea or is a separate concept.

Second this is the first movie since the freaking lost films that Esmeralda as the focus character. Evert movie version since 1923 has been a Quasimodo movie. This also mean most movie versions made are vanity projects lead by a 40 something male actor looking to play emotional yet physically demanding role.

Looking in to Peter Chernin who is not and actor or a director but a business man turned producer who has his own production, Chernin Entertainment. So it’s more likely that this film will happen than other film version that are being made who wanted to be made. Though Max Ryan’s upcoming version which is set to start filming in Serbia is an independent movie.

Also all the new outlets that have report on this are calling it a Live-action. This that either they are connecting it to the Disney version because of the trend of live-action Disney movies is REALLY big right now, they are confused or does Chernin have titles to Disney? That is unclear and it’s still really early in development. But it’s fun that there are two new Hunchback movies in the works, good or bad.

Also one person on http://screenrant.com/hunchback-notre-dame-esmeralda-retelling/ implied Mila Kunis, Penelope Cruz, Aishwarya Rai, or Vanessa Hudgens for the role of Esmeralda. To which I say;

maybe, interesting because her sister Moinca was listed in negotiation for Esmeralda for the Max Ryan movie in like 2007, pushing it on age and her Hollywood debut never really panned out but we could get a kickass dance number if they cast a Bollywood actress, and lastly nope please no on Hudgens.

 

I hope they give the role to a new actress but I doubt they will but it will depend on Esmeralda background who they cast. I wish they would go with Esmeralda’s original backstory but they don’t I don’t care that much.

 

Who do you want to play Esmeralda?

 

A Not-Update on the Brolin version

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I think we have all pretty much written this version off as ever getting made but the other day I couldn’t resist checking google news for it. And not surprsingly I didn’t find anything  but I did find it getting a minor plug in articles that were talking about Yimou’s Zhang upcoming movie Great Wall which were from December 2014, as the MOST recent. And all it said is that Zhang Yimou was linked to the Quasimodo movie. I just found that a little silly, (article here.)

 

Also just going to ask for the sake of  my curiosity, would anyone be interested in the blog go on Patreon? I somehow doubt there is much interest in supporting the blog in that capacity and that is okay  but I figure that getting average idea doesn’t hurt, it would also mean new exclusive content for patrons (pretty sure that is how it works.)   I just wanted to ask you, the readers for clarity.