Trailer for Into the Woods Starring Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick and Johnny Depp

Posted on August 2, 2014

Disney has released the first trailer for its blockbuster Christmas Day release, Into the Woods. The film is adapted from the 1987 Stephen Sondheim hit Broadway musical.

The story is a mashup of several classic fairy tales, framed by the overarching story of a baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) who long to start a family and want to lift a curse placed on them by a witch (Meryl Streep). Each of the fairy tale characters has a wish he or she wants granted. So they head to the woods and make a wish. Lilla Crawford plays Red Riding Hood, Daniel Huttlestone plays Jack (of the Beanstalk fame), Anna Kendrick is Cinderella, and Chris Pine is her Prince. Mackenzie Mauzy plays Rapunzel, Billy Mangussen plays her Prince and Christine Baranski plays Cinderella's wicket stepmother. Johnny Depp is the Wolf, although you don't see his face in the trailer.

The trailer opens with Red Riding Hood heading into the forest with a red cloak. Then we get shots of each of the other characters, many of whom say "I Wish" which is a big theme of the musical. No one sings, though. Clearly, Disney is saving that reveal for closer to the release date.

We're feeling a bit of fairy tale fatigue. There has been a veritable plethora of fairy tale based TV shows and movies lately and the trend shows no sign of abating. Can any of these actors sing? We know Anna Kendrick can, this should be a cakewalk for her. Meryl Streep pulled it off in Mama Mia. Johnny Depp is no singer, but he can certainly act his way through a song. We'll be interested to see if Chris Pine has the pipes to play a singing prince (this one has us worried). Emily Blunt trained as a singer, although she hasn't put it to much use in her most recent film roles. We think her voice will be a nice surprise for audiences. Mauzy is a Broadway singer, so she should do just fine.

The film is directed by Bob Marshall, who directed Chicago and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The original musical was written by James Lapine, who also wrote the screenplay. The film uses the Stephen Sondheim music and lyrics. Take a look:

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