Walt Disney Pictures' Into The Woods, which will hit theaters beginning December 25, 2014, is a film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name which in turn was based on some of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales, including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel.
Directed by Rob Marshall from a screenplay by James Lapine, the film follows the journey of a baker and his wife who wish they could have a child. Their condition, they learned, was caused by a curse from a witch, and to undo that curse they must go into the woods in search of certain things they were told they must find. In the woods they encounter and interact with Little Red Riding Hood, Jack, Rapunzel, Cinderella and other fairy tale characters.
James Corden plays the Baker with Emily Blunt as his Wife. Meryl Streep is cast as the Witch, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Chris Pine as Cinderella's Prince, Johnny Depp as the Wolf, Lilla Crawford as Little Red Riding Hood, Daniel Huttlestone as Jack, Tracy Ullman as Jack's Mother, Christine Baranski as Cinderella's Stepmother, Mackenzie Mauzy as Rapunzel, Billy Magnussen as Rapunzel's Prince, Tammy Blanchard as Cinderella's stepsister Florinda, Lucy Punch as Cinderella's stepsister Lucinda, Richar Glover as the Steward, Frances de la Tour as the Giant's Wife, Simon Russel Beale as the Baker's father, Joanna Riding as Cinderella's mother, and Annette Crosby as Little Red Riding Hood's Grandmother.
The all-singing film production will retain Sondheim's music and lyrics for the Broadway musical along with two additional new songs, of which one is entitled "Rainbows" and another is something which he wrote particularly for Streep's movie character. The film will however not be entirely faithful to the play. For instance, unlike in the play, Rapunzel will not die in the movie, and the Prince will not sleep with the Baker's wife.
