Producer Marc Platt Talks INTO THE WOODS Adaptation: 'You're Telling the Story in Very Different Medium'

In an all-new interview with Deadline, INTO THE WOODS producer Marc Platt shares some of the challenges he faced in bringing the iconic musical production to the big screen.

"The challenges were to render a beloved piece as accessible as possible and yet be true to it and find that balance," explains the producer. "In any adaptation the challenge is to take the essence of the original source of the material, be faithful to it to a point, but to also recognize that you're telling a story in a very different medium. It has to exist on its own and it has to offer something unique to that experience. It's no different from when you take a film and try to put it up on stage musicals, as many people do, and certainly no different if we take a stage musical and put it up and attempt to find the cinematic language for the film. That's the initial challenge, and particularly when there's a piece that's beloved by a rabid fan base. You feel that challenge even more so, because you don't want to disappoint the fans but you also have to deliver an entertainment that will be experienced by the broadest possible audience."

He went on to explain how he collaborated with Woods creatives Steve Sondheim and James Lapine in bringing the project to fruition. "Steve and James recognized that this needed to work as a film, this was a great opportunity, so when decisions were made that involved, "We may have to take out this song or take out that song," they were, "Let's let it go." I mean no one likes to murder your babies if you don't have to, but they were both aggressive in solving those problems and editing and recognizing that what works on page doesn't work on film."

Read the interview in full here

INTO THE WOODS, hitting theaters on December 25th, is a modern twist on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales, intertwining the plots of a few choice stories and exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests.

This humorous and heartfelt musical follows the classic tales of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone), and Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy) - all tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife (James Corden & Emily Blunt), their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the witch (Meryl Streep) who has put a curse on them. Rob Marshall, the talented filmmaker behind the Academy Award-winning musical "Chicago" and Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: OnStranger Tides," helms the film, which is based on the Tony-winning original musical by James Lapine, who also penned the screenplay, and legendary composer Stephen Sondheim, who provides the music and lyrics.

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