The success of the animation movie about two sisters results in huge franchise deal including a stage adaptation.
- January 14, 2014
AceShowbiz -
Disney Theatrical Production is bringing Disney Animation's "Frozen (2013)" to Broadway. The project, which was first hinted by Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger in an interview with Fortune, has now been confirmed by a representative of the company to be in early stages of production.
The adaptation of the hit movie into stage production is inevitable given its commercial success which would result in equally successful franchise. The music, scored by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, also has Broadway material.
Disney has done the same move back in 1997 when "The Lion King" opened on Broadway and went on winning six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The company had considered to do the same with its 2007 animated film "Enchanted" and its TV series "High School Musical".
"Frozen" is expected to expand its franchise from toys to theme park rides to interactive characters. "They're not just making money inside of that film window," Tony Wible, senior media and entertainment analyst at Janney Capital Markets, told Fortune. "In that Disney fashion, they set it up across the whole spectrum."
The stage production is set to begin Broadway previews later this spring, Variety reported. Iger declined to give a specific time frame because "We're not demanding speed," he said. "We're demanding excellence."
