2012 Tony Award-winning Best Actor In a Play, James Corden, has been cast as The Baker in Rob Marshall's feature film version of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's INTO THE WOODS according to an official new casting notice that has gone out.

Corden joins Meryl Streep as The Witch and Johnny Depp as The Wolf in the new fairy tale-themed movie musical that asks "What happens after 'happily ever after'?"

The new casting notice confirming the commitment of these actors to these three pivotal roles reads as follows: "Starring in "Into The Woods" is three-time Academy Award nominee and Disney favorite Johnny Depp, who is playing a hungry and sexy vicissitude of the fairy tale Wolf. Depp has made a number of blockbuster hit films for Disney including the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, "Alice in Wonderland," and "The Lone Ranger". Also starring as the vain and charismatic Witch is three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep. Most recently Streep starred in "August: Osage County" alongside such A-list talent as Benedict Cumberbatch, Ewan McGregor, Julia Roberts, and Abigail Breslin. Rounding out the first three roles Disney has cast is Tony Award winner James Corden playing the role of The Baker. Corden, who is hugely popular in England, recently played the role of "Britain's Got Talent" sensation Paul Potts in the film "One Chance"."

Sondheim has written new material for the film, as well, with "Rainbows" - a duet for the Baker and his Wife - apparently appearing in the revised score and a reported new song for Streep as The Witch being incorporated into the songstack, as well, which already includes such beloved gems as "No One Is Alone" and "Children Will Listen".

Sondheim discussed "Rainbows", additional/alternate verses for songs and other unique material written for the score, as well as his thoughts on the starry cast originally assembled to film INTO THE WOODS back in the 1990s, then under the direction of Penny Marshall, in both of our extensive InDepth InterViews.



As for the first reading for the film back then - which included heavyweights such as Robin Williams and Cher in the cast - Sondheim tells me, "It was really, really good. I remember thinking, 'If a bomb drops on this house, half of Hollywood would be wiped out!'"

Let's hope this INTO THE WOODS cast currently being assembled ends up being even better!



Check out my first Sondheim conversation here and the second conversation here.

Also, the new casting notice is available here.

So, what do you think of ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS star James Corden joining Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp in the big screen version of INTO THE WOODS?



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From This Author Pat Cerasaro