UPDATE: Deadline reports Universal won the seven-figure auction for the new, original musical pitch. It apparently came down between them, Disney and Paramount, but the deal closed late last night for Universal to host it under their banner. It’s considered not only the biggest material sale this year but the biggest pitch deal in a good while. Michael De Luca is now attached as a producer.
The original post follows….
Jeremy Garelick, the writer/director behind this year’s The Wedding Ringer, and actor Josh Gad already established their working relationship through the raunchy January comedy, but their next venture goes in a wholly different creative direction. They’ve recently gone around town with a pitch for an original, untitled musical comedy, with Oscar winners Alan Menken (Alladin, Pocahontas) and Stephen Schwartz (Pocahontas) attached to write the music, and it looks like Hollywood is quite interested.
Gad and Garelick’s story has already seen seven-figure offers from big-name studios like Disney, Paramount, New Line Cinema, Sony Pictures, Fox and Universal. Sony’s Screen Gems hosted their first movie, which may give them an upper leg on this new production, though Gad’s connections with Disney should not be shortchanged.
It’s also with Disney where Menkin and Schwartz have primarily made their legacy. The song writers have had great success with the studio thanks to their award-winning tunes for Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Tangled, just to name a few.
Whoever houses the film, expect to hear some developments soon. This will be a quick deal, and it’s possible this comedy will have a home before the weekend’s out. In addition to writing, one assumes Gad is also involved as an actor. He has prominent musical experience on both the screen and the stage, with “The Book of Mormon” and of course Frozen being the most notable. [Deadline]
