Entertainment Weekly has revealed that Walt Disney Pictures is planning a new musical adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, which will be written and directed by BIll Condon (Beauty and the Beast), with music and songs from Stephen Schwartz (Wicked).
According to the site’s report, the new film will be titled Marley and will explore the classic story through the eyes of Jacob Marley, who visits Ebenezer Scrooge as a ghost, warning his former business partner to take heed of the warnings from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.
Marley marks a return to the source material for Disney, which has previously adapted the material as Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983) and The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), along with 2009’s Jim Carrey-headlined motion capture film from director Robert Zemeckis.
As it happens, this isn’t the only musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol in the works, as Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds are set to star in a reimagining from Daddy’s Home director Sean Anders set up at Apple. Meanwhile, Guy Pearce is set to headline a BBC miniseries from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, and you can check out the first look images from that project here ahead of its TV premiere this December.
