Cyrano the Moor

[Sotiris]

Well, this is unexpected from Disney.

Walt Disney Pictures is now in business with Moonlight Oscar-winning writer Tarell Alvin McCraney to script a musical idea for David Oyelowo to star. Details are under wraps on what is being titled Cyrano the Moor, but we know it’s some kind of musical mash up of two classic stories — Cyrano de Bergerac and Othello — and will be set in the Bristol region of England during the 19th century.

The live-action musical Cyrano the Moor is planned to be as lavish a show as Disney classics Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. The idea was originally conceived awhile ago by former CAA agent Jon Levin in one of the Oyelowo team development meetings. Disney then bought the idea and hired McCraney to write it. The producers will be Yoruba Saxon (A United Kingdom, Nightingale) with David Oyelowo and Jessica Oyelowo. Tendo Nagenda and Chaz Salembier are overseeing for Disney.

Source: http://deadline.com/2017/09/disney-musi ... 202175670/

[blackcauldron85]

I just came here to post this! I am beyond excited!!!!!!!!! Original fairy tale or musical films are what I have been craving from Disney live action. While I was underwhelmed with Into the Woods, that was attributed more to the original source material than Disney's handling of it. But the other live action musicals, from Enchanted, Newsies, Pete's Dragon, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, The Happiest Millionaire, Mary Poppins, and even So Dear to My Heart are such good movies, with music I keep in as much a rotation as I do the animated soundtracks (SDtMH not as much)), and I am just so excited for an original musical!!!

[JeanGreyForever]

This is exciting. I'm glad Disney is pursuing some original content and still planning on giving it as lavish a treatment as Cinderella or BATB got. It's also interesting because it shuts down all those people who claim that PoC couldn't have existed in European period films.

[Sotiris]

I wonder what happened to Disney's other original live-action musical Bob: The Musical that was in the works.

[Disney Duster]

I like that they call the live-action Cinderella a Disney Classic. I think everyone can guess how I feel about Beauty and the Beast so I won't say.

I don't like the idea of a mash-up of two plays.

[JeanGreyForever]

I like that they call the live-action Cinderella a Disney Classic. I think everyone can guess how I feel about Beauty and the Beast so I won't say.

I don't like the idea of a mash-up of two plays.

I liked how they called Cinderella a Disney Classic as well. It shows that even if it wasn't as big a box-office hit as Alice in Wonderland or Maleficent, it has stood the test of time. I agree with you about BATB though.

I didn't realize they were adapting two plays into one until I looked closer. I'm not sure why since neither play really has anything to do with the other and both the setting and time period differ.

[Disney Duster]

I liked how they called Cinderella a Disney Classic as well. It shows that even if it wasn't as big a box-office hit as Alice in Wonderland or Maleficent, it has stood the test of time. I agree with you about BATB though.

I didn't realize they were adapting two plays into one until I looked closer. I'm not sure why since neither play really has anything to do with the other and both the setting and time period differ.

Yea exactly.

[Disney's Divinity]

Because a Disney press release called it a classic, it's stood the test of time??? Disney would call Cinderella II: Dreams Come True a classicbecause honestly labeling them trash wouldn't be conducive to making money.

[JeanGreyForever]

Because a Disney press release called it a classic, it's stood the test of time??? Disney would call Cinderella II: Dreams Come True a classicbecause honestly labeling them trash wouldn't be conducive to making money.

Yeah but when was the last time you saw Disney advertising Cinderella II and calling it a classic except for maybe when the film was first released on DVD? Whether you like it or not, Cinderella was critically acclaimed, which was especially important after the responses that Alice and Maleficent got (Oz as well to an extent). No one's saying you have to like it, but it's a bit ridiculous to deny that the film has had lasting appeal. I have a deep hatred for Disney's adaptation of Peter Pan, but I can't deny that the film is considered a classic today, even if I really want to.

[blackcauldron85]

(Maybe it is but) maybe it's not a direct mash-up of 2 stories, but using them as inspiration (a la "Hamlet" for The Lion King? I have no problem with. While I'm not very familiar with "Othello," I love the story of "Cyrano de de Bergerac" (well, the movies that used it as inspiration).

[Sotiris]

I doubt they'll use any other element from Othello aside from the lead being a Moor. Perhaps they'll also use an Iago character as the antagonist but that's the extend of it.

[Disney's Divinity]

I have a deep hatred for Disney's adaptation of Peter Pan, but I can't deny that the film is considered a classic today, even if I really want to.

There's a difference between a film that's still being viewed and loved 50+ years after the fact and a couple of films from yesteryear.

[Disney Duster]

If it was just like those examples, blackcauldron85 and Sotiris, then I wouldn't mind.

Along with what JeanGreyForever said, Disney's Divinity, Disney was obviously choosing to mention Beauty and the Beast because it is their most monetarily successful live-action remake and their most recent one, but Cinderella was obviously not chosen because of money - it seems to have been chosen because of a classic status. You can think it's not a classic all you want, it doesn't change what they said.

[JeanGreyForever]

I have a deep hatred for Disney's adaptation of Peter Pan, but I can't deny that the film is considered a classic today, even if I really want to.

There's a difference between a film that's still being viewed and loved 50+ years after the fact and a couple of films from yesteryear.

I disagree. Some films can instantly become classics. Frozen is an example of this, because like it or not, it has become a new Disney classic. The Lion King and frankly all of Disney's Big Four (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King) were all instant classics. Some films require more time like Alice in Wonderland or Sleeping Beauty. I think Cinderella has earned its classic status especially when compared to other live-action films.

[Disney's Divinity]

You can think it's not a classic all you want, it doesn't change what they said.

Disneycorp can say the sky is made of green gerbils if they want, nothing they say is anchored in truth.

[Disney Duster]

Some films can instantly become classics. Frozen is an example of this, because like it or not, it has become a new Disney classic. The Lion King and frankly all of Disney's Big Four (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King) were all instant classics. Some films require more time like Alice in Wonderland or Sleeping Beauty. I think Cinderella has earned its classic status especially when compared to other live-action films.

Well said! I agree.