Deadline is reporting that Stephen Schwartz is developing an untitled original musical fantasy about Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The project marks the first original musical from the composter/lyricist since Wicked and follows Andersen as a young man as he gets trapped in a world of his own imagination and searches for a way back to reality, when he comes face-to-face with characters from his own fairy tales. Ansel Elgort is in talks to to star in the movie. David Magee (Life of Pi , Mary Poppind Returns) is writing the screenplay.
Tag: Stephen Schwartz
ABC’s ‘Harmony’ to Feature Music by Stephen Schwartz & Jon Ondrasik
Stephen Schwartz (The Prince of Egypt, Pocahontas, Enchanted) and singer/songwriter Jon Ondrasik (aka Five for Fighting) will be composing original music for the ABC musical drama Harmony. The show created by Peter Paige & Bradley Bredeweg (The Fosters) and Jacob Chase is set in the town of Harmony, New York, where residents are known to sing and dance to express their emotions and follows a detective who left the town as a teenager who must return to help solve a crime.
Stephen Schwartz, Michael Giacchino & Didier Lean Rachou Honored at ASCAP Screen Music Awards
Last night, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) held its annual Screen Music Awards at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. Stephen Schwartz was honored with the ASCAP Founders Award, which is given to pioneering ASCAP songwriters who have made exceptional contributions to music by inspiring and influencing their fellow music creators. The Academy Award-, Grammy Award- and Golden Globe-winning composer was presented the award by ASCAP president Paul Williams. Several of Schwartz’s collaborators congratulated the songwriter via a video message, including former DreamWorks Animation head Jeffrey Katzenberg, actor Victor Garber, producer Marc Platt and composers/lyricists Benj Pasek & Justin Paul.
Stephen Schwartz to Receive Founders Award at ASCAP Screen Music Awards
ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, announced today that composer Stephen Schwartz will be honored with the Founders Award at its 32nd annual ASCAP Screen Music Awards on Tuesday, May 16 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. The gala will also celebrate ASCAP’s top film, television and videogame composers of 2016. Over the course of his career, Schwartz has composed scores and lyrics for films including Godspell, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Prince of Egypt, Enchanted, and the TV movie Geppetto.
Stephen Schwartz to Write Original Songs for ‘Wicked’ Movie Adaptation
Stephen Schwartz revealed today at the Comic-Con panel CW3PR’s 8th Annual Behind-the-Music: Crime, Death and Resurrection that the upcoming film adaptation of the stage musical Wicked will feature new original songs. Currently, there are plans for four new songs to be in the movie in addition to tunes from the stage version. Stephen Daldry (The Hours, The Reader, Billy Elliott, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) will direct the film and Winnie Holzman is writing the screenplay. No casting announcements have been made yet. Marc Platt (Into the Woods, Bridge of Spies, Drive, Legally Blonde) is producing the project.
‘Pocahontas’ Legacy Collection Soundtrack Announced
The full details of the Walt Disney Records Legacy Collection release for Disney Animation’s 1995 feature Pocahontas have been revealed. The album features the film’s original songs and score, including previously unreleased tracks and demos. Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Enchanted, The Little Mermaid) has composed the score and songs and Stephen Schwartz (The Prince of Egypt) provided the songs’ lyrics. Menken’s score and the song Listen to the Wind were honored with Academy Award nominations in 1996. The soundtrack release, which coincides with the movie’s 20th anniversary will be released on August 7, 2015 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon.
Universal Buys Untitled Musical Comedy to Feature Music by Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz
Deadline is reporting that Universal Pictures has acquired an untitled comedy musical to be directed by Jeremy Garelick (The Wedding Ringer), starring Josh Gad and featuring music by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. The movie is said to follow a “domestic who integrates into family with a busy single mother, and becomes an important part of the clan”. Garelick is also writing the screenplay based on a story by himself and Gad. Michael De Luca (The Social Network, Captain Phillips, Moneyball, Fifty Shades of Grey) will serve as the producer on the project alongside Garelick, Gad, Menken & Schwartz.
A.R. Rahman to score Dreamworks Animation’s ‘Monkeys of Bollywood’
Variety reports that A.R. Rahman has been hired to score the animated musical Monkeys of Bollywood from Dreamworks Animation. Also on board the project is lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Enchanted) and husband-and-wife producing team Gurinder Chadha and Paul Berge (Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice). The project marks the studios’ first animated musical since 1998’s The Prince of Egypt, which was scored by Hans Zimmer and featured songs composed by Schwartz. The mumbai-set project is inspired by the Hindu epic poem “The Ramayana” and revolves around two monkeys who try to stop an ancient demon from conquering the world. No word yet on when the Bollywood-style animated musical is expected to come out.