Gad Says We're "Getting Closer" to Live-Action ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame’ - Inside the Magic

Two years ago, it was revealed that Disney would be expanding its live-action film library by adding a Hunchback of Notre Dame remake to the list. 

At the time when this live-action remake was announced, all we knew was that Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (“M. Butterfly”) was hired to write the script, with Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz writing the music. In case you don’t recall, Menken and Schwartz also wrote the music for Disney’s 1996 animated film, Hunchback of Notre Dame, as well as the European stage adaptation.

Related: OpEd: ‘Hunchback’ is the Best Animated Disney Movie

Josh Gad, known for playing Olaf in the Frozen franchise and Lefou in the live-action Beauty and the Beast (2017), is producing the upcoming live-action remake film alongside Mandeville Films. At this time we do not know who will star in the film, but Gad has recently taken to Twitter to provide a small, but promising, update regarding the upcoming live-action film.

Josh Gad took to Twitter to write:

Back up. Watching #WandaVision for second time. It’s remarkable. Like if someone let Ivo Van Hove access to the Marvel Universe.

Back up. Watching #WandaVision for second time. It’s remarkable. Like if someone let Ivo Van Hove access to the Marvel Universe.

— Josh Gad (@joshgad) January 24, 2021

Related: Alan Menken Just Launched His New Website and It’s as Magical as Expected

In which Twitter user, @FdezzGarciiia, replied to him saying:

yass king but we need to know what’s gonna happen with the hunchback live action remake you are to direct. it’s postponed or cancelled. for the role of esmeralda i truly recommend @HibaAbouk! please have her in mind whenever the casting process starts

In which Gad replied with:

Getting. Closer. And. Closer.

— Josh Gad (@joshgad) January 24, 2021

Related: ‘Hunchback’ Directors Reveal Celebrity Audition Drama

Though not much else was said in the Twitter exchange, this is very promising for fans who have been anxiously awaiting an update regarding the live-action Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Inside the Magic will keep you updated as we get new information.

More on 1996‘s Hunchback of Notre Dame Animated Film

The upcoming live-action film will be an adaption of the 1996 animated film by the same name. In case you’ve never seen the film, the official description reads:

In 15th century Paris, Clopin the puppeteer tells the story of Quasimodo, the misshapen but gentle-souled bell ringer of Notre Dame, who was nearly killed as a baby by Claude Frollo, the Minister of Justice. But Frollo was forced by the Archdeacon of Notre Dame to raise Quasimodo as his own. Now a young man, Quasimodo is hidden from the world by Frollo in the belltower of the cathedral. But during the Festival of Fools, Quasimodo, cheered on by his gargoyle friends Victor, Hugo, and Laverne, decides to take part in the festivities, where he meets the lovely gypsy girl Esmeralda and the handsome soldier Phoebus. The three of them find themselves ranged against Frollo’s cruelty and his attempts to destroy the home of the gypsies, the Court of Miracles. And Quasimodo must desperately defend both Esmeralda and the very cathedral of Notre Dame.

Hunchback of Notre Dame is currently streaming on Disney+. If you’re not yet signed up for the service, you can get started here.

Are you excited to see the live-action Hunchback of Notre Dame? Let us know in the comments below.