On the heels of Disney’s announcement of a Blu-Ray release date, The House of Mouse has announced another way it’s going to get you to open your wallets to pay for their fine products. In an interview with Fortune magazine, Disney CEO Bob Iger talked about the “franchise potential” of “Frozen,” which is on pace to beat “The Lion King” as their all-time biggest moneymaker at the box office. Part of that franchising, he revealed, is a Broadway adaptation.
But don’t buy your tickets to New York just yet. Iger also told Fortune it may take a while to get on stage. “We’re not demanding speed . . . We’re demanding excellence.”
This move to the stage should come as no surprise to anyone who has seen “Frozen.” Its Broadway bona-fides come from a cast of multiple Tony-award winners and nominees, including Idina Menzel (“Wicked”) and Josh Gad (“The Book of Mormon”). “Frozen’s” #1-selling soundtrack was also penned by Broadway alum Robert Lopez (“Avenue Q” and “The Book of Mormon”) and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez.
Indeed, anyone who saw or listened to the opening of “Frozen” and didn’t hear a similarity to “The Lion King” was maybe not paying close enough attention. Ditto if you missed some aping of “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked” in the show-stopper (and shoe-in for the Oscar) “Let It Go.”
And Disney is no newcomer to Broadway. “The Lion King,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Mary Poppins,” and even (yes, Scarlett Robotica) “Newsies” have all been box office hits as stage musicals.
“Frozen” is both a no-brainer as a stage musical and welcome news to all of us who love the film. And, given the box office numbers, that is a lot of us. My eight year old girl is already asking if she can come with me to New York to go see it.
See you on the Great White Way, Olaf!