'Rip Van Winkle' To Become A Musical Film

Warner Bros. has officially closed a deal for a unique musical take on American folk tale Rip Van Winkle according to The Hollywood Reporter. Tony Award-winner Cynthia Erivo has signed on to lend her voice to a new movie musical adaptation produced by Tony nominee, and Disney legend, Josh Gad.

Gad took to Twitter to express his excitement: "This is going to be so freaking special. My dream job is to give Cynthia Erivo a platform for her brilliance and I feel blessed to now have that opportunity. Get ready. This is going to be magical."

Amanda Idoko will write the script based off of Gad’s idea. Kate Anderson and Elissa Samsel will write the music. The duo worked with Gad when they wrote music for Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, Disney’s Frozen-based animated short that co-starred Gad.

Erivo won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her work in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple. Gad, was most recently seen on the big screen in Murder on the Orient Express and Beauty and The Beast, and is currently working on Frozen 2.

Photo: Getty