Disney Confirm Live-Action Remake of ‘The Hunchback Of Notre Dame’
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Featured Image Credit: Disney
Disney is set to produce a live-action musical remake of the 1996 animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Based on Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, the film will reportedly star actor Josh Gad, who voiced Olaf in Frozen and appeared as LeFou in Disney's recent live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
After the announcement, Gad, 37, posted a picture on Twitter of himself outside the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris along with the caption: "Sing the bells, bells, bells / Bells, bells, bells, bells, bells..."
Sing the bells, bells, bells
Bells, bells, bells, bells, bells... pic.twitter.com/Sg676VmL77
- Josh Gad (@joshgad) January 16, 2019
The musical, about a deformed bell-ringer who struggles to find a place in society, is expected to be heavily influenced by the earlier animated version, rather than the stageplay written by songwriters Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.
The 1996 version, which starred Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay and Kevin Kline, was particularly memorable for its songs, including 'Out There', 'God Help the Outcasts' and 'Hellfire'.
According to Deadline, Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang has been set to write the Hunchback remake.
Reacting to the news, one fan said on Twitter: "[Josh Gad] would be an amazing Quasimodo."
"David Henry Hwang is one of my favourite writers and honestly I'm SO excited for his take on The Hunchback of Notre Dame," another fan wrote.
This latest announcement comes on top of the heap of animated films currently being remade by Disney including Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Mulan and Lilo and Stitch.
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Meanwhile, Netflix is still expected to release its own version of the classic French tale, totally separate from Disney's incarnation.
Reports in the Hollywood Reporter from last year suggest that the 45-year-old actor Idris Elba is set to star in Netlix's The Hunchback of Notre Dame film, as main character Quasimodo.