DVDizzy Forum

Fresh off of their third Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for Frozen 2’s “Into the Unknown”, Kristen and Bobby Lopez are wasting no time jumping back into the movie musical arena. Playbill has learned exclusively from the Lopezes: “Our next movie musical project is with Marc Platt and it is a musical version of a graphic novel called The Prince and the Dressmaker.” The team is working with Pulitzer Prize finalist Amy Herzog (4000 Miles) to adapt the graphic novel by Jen Wang.

Set in Paris, the story follows Prince Sebastian, whose parents are scouring the country for a bride for their son. But Sebastian leads a secret life. By night, he dons spectacular dresses and goes out as Lady Crystallia, a Parisian fashion icon. His best friend, dressmaker Frances, is the only one who knows the truth, and she doesn’t want the credit for her creations to be secret anymore.

The novel hit shelves February 13, 2018. No timeline for this musical movie adaptation has been announced.

Reviewers compared The Prince and the Dressmaker to the tale of "Cinderella", particularly the 1950 Disney film adaptation of the story. Mindy Rhiger, writing for The Comics Journal, described elements of transformation as being present in both stories, and noted that both begin with an invitation to a prince's ball.

While in lockdown, they have been able to write four or five songs for their next project, an adaptation of the graphic novel Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang. “When we do write a song now though, it just feels so good to exercise those muscles and forget about where you’re going to get the chicken for tonight’s dinner,” says Kristen.