THE PRINCESS BRIDE Musical to Have 'Substantial Workshop' Later This Year

Bob Martin and Rick Elice, book writers for Broadway's Smash, have given an update on their long-awaited musical adaptation of The Princess Bride. In an interview with Variety, Martin revealed that the show is actively in the works, also providing a time frame for a major workshop taking place later this year.

"[The show is] progressing nicely, actually. It’s been a long journey for that one — almost 10 years now, I believe. But it is progressing with the new composing team," said Martin. Though he didn't name the new songwriters, they replace David Yazbek, who was previously attached to the project.

Martin continued, "We can say that we’re doing a substantial workshop at the end of the summer going into fall. We’ve been working on it in various ways over the last few years, but we’re going to sit down with all the material then." Martin and Elice have been attached to the project since at least 2019, though a stage adaptation of the fan-favorite film has been in development limbo for years.

Based on the 1973 novel of the same name by William Goldman, The Princess Bride film was directed and co-produced by Rob Reiner. In the movie, the story unfolds as a book being read by a grandfather (Peter Falk) to his sick grandson, played by Fred Savage. Cary Elwes and Robin Wright also starred as the romantic leads, as did the late André the Giant, Mandy Patinkin, and Billy Crystal. 

The film was first released in the United States on September 25, 1987, and received widespread critical acclaim. After only having modest initial box office success, it has over time become a cult film and gained recognition as one of the best films of the 1980s as well as one of Reiner's best works. In 2016, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

This is not the first time that writers have attempted to adapt the classic film for the stage. in 2006, it was announced that Adam Guettel was working with William Goldman on a musical adaptation. In 2016, Reiner revealed that the project was still in development, with Marc Shaiman, Randy Newman and John Mayer all having been approached to write songs.

Rick Elice and Bob Martin's latest project was Smash. Elice is co-writer of Jersey Boys, The Addams Family, The Cher Show, Peter and the Starcatcher, and Water for Elephants. Bob Martin began his Broadway career both starring in and writing the book (Tony Award) for The Drowsy Chaperone. He also co-wrote the book for the musical The Prom and penned the book for Boop! The Musical, which is currently on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre.