Back in 2018 it was announced that Warner Bros. had picked up the rights to War Horse author Michael Morpurgo’s Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz for an animated musical adaptation, and now Deadline brings word that the project has enlisted a new screenwriter.
As revealed by the site, John August – whose credits include Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and last year’s live-action Aladdin – is set to write the script for the adaptation, which retells L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the point of view of Dorothy’s canine companion Toto.
Mark Burton (Shaun the Sheep, Early Man) was previously attached to write the film, which is being produced by Jared Stern, writer on The LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Ninjago Movie.
Along with Toto, August is also attached to another musical in Summer Loving, a prequel to the 1978 classic Grease, which was announced by Paramount Players last year.
Originally published January 20, 2020. Updated January 19, 2020.
