With their run of live-action retellings of classic Disney musical fairytales proving enormous business — this year’s “Beauty & The Beast” is the tenth highest-grossing movie of all time — it’s no surprise that the Mouse House is doubling down on the genre. New versions of “Mulan,” “The Nutcracker,” “Dumbo,” “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” are set to hit theaters in the next two years alone, and there’s plenty more in development beyond that. But it does lead to the question — what happens when you run out of classics to remake?
The studio have already covered most of their truly beloved classics. And while they’re pushing on with sequels to some of the established hits — follow ups to “Maleficent” and “The Jungle Book” are in the works — the tanking last year of “Alice Through The Looking Glass” showed the perils of trying to over-extend these properties. So do you attempt to take on some lesser-known Disney pics? Live-action “The Great Mouse Detective,” “Oliver & Company” or “Home On The Range?” Or do you try to create your own new fairy tales? Or do you try to look elsewhere for inspiration, like, uh, William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy of racism, jealousy and murder “Othello.”
Remarkably, the latter is actually coming true, and it actually sounds kind of awesome? Deadline report that the studio are now developing “Cyrano The Moor,” a pitch by the Oscar-winning Tarrell Alvin McCraney, who wrote the source material and story for “Moonlight,” in which David Oyelowo will star. Intended as a live-action musical and set in Bristol, England in the 19th Century, the project will mash-up not only “Othello,” but also another classic, Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano De Bergerac” (previously adapted with stars including Gerard Depardieu and Steve Martin), about the large-nosed poet who helps another man woo the woman he’s in love with.
It’s an unusual idea for a Disney musical, but with an impressive team on board with Oyelowo (who’ll also produce it with his wife Jessica and producing partner Yoruba Saxon) and McCraney, this is definitely one of the more intriguing fairy-tale prospects at the studio, and it’s exciting to see them prepared to roll the dice on something more unusual like this. There’s no timeline on when this will hit — 2020 seems like the earliest based on their release date schedule — but we look forward to hearing more as the project comes together. Hopefully the ending is a little more upbeat than the two things it’s based on, though…