Into the Woods had its world premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on December 8, 2014, and was released theatrically in the United States on December 25, 2014.[7] The film received positive reviews upon its release, with praise directed towards the acting, tone, and production merits.
Plot
A Baker and his Wife wish for a child but suffer under a curse laid upon the Baker's family by a Witch who found the Baker's father robbing her garden when his mother was pregnant. The Witch offers to lift the curse, but only if the Baker and his Wife obtain four critical items for her: a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold.
The Witch's demands will eventually bring the Baker and his Wife into contact with Jack, who is selling his beloved cow Milky-White and to whom the Baker offers magic beans left him by his father (which were stolen from the Witch) which grow into a large beanstalk; with Red Riding Hood whose ruby cape the couple notices when she stops to buy sweets on her way to grandmother's house; with Rapunzel, whose tower the Baker's Wife passes in the woods; and with Cinderella, who will also run into the Baker's Wife while fleeing from the pursuing Prince.
After a series of failed attempts and misadventures, the Baker and his Wife finally are able to gather the items necessary to break the spell with the Baker saving Little Red Riding Hood from the Big Bad Wolf. Meanwhile, each of the other characters receive their "happy endings": Cinderella marries the Prince, Jack provides for his mother by stealing riches from the Giant in the sky and kills the pursuing Giant by cutting down the beanstalk, and the Witch regains her youth and beauty after drinking the potion.
However, each of the characters learns their "happily ever after" is not so happy: the Baker is worried he is a poor father to his newborn baby, the Baker's Wife is temporarily seduced by the Prince, Cinderella is disenchanted by the cheating Prince, and the Witch learns that she has lost her powers with her restored youth. The growth of a second beanstalk from the last remaining magic bean allows the Giant's Wife (Frances de la Tour) to climb down and threaten the kingdom and its inhabitants if they do not deliver Jack in retribution for killing her husband. The characters debate the morality of handing Jack over. In the process, Red Riding Hood's Mother and Grandmother, Jack's Mother, and the Baker's Wife are killed. The characters quickly blame each other for their individual actions that lead to the tragedy, ultimately blaming the Witch. She curses them for their inability to accept their individual responsibility and disappears.
The remaining characters resolve to kill the threatening Giant's Wife, though Cinderella and the Baker try to explain to the distraught Red Riding Hood and Jack the complicated morality of retribution and revenge. The Giant's Wife is killed, and the characters move forward with their ruined lives: the Baker, thinking of his Wife, is determined to be a good father, Cinderella leaves the Prince and decides to help the Baker, and Jack and Red Riding Hood, now orphans, live with the Baker and Cinderella. The Baker begins to tell their story to his son—"Once upon a time..."
"Into the Woods (Prologue)" - The Baker, Cinderella, Jack, The Baker's Wife, Cinderella's Stepmother, Florinda, Lucinda, Jack's Mother, and The Witch
"Cinderella at the Grave" - Cinderella and Cinderella's Mother
"Hello, Little Girl" - The Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood
"Rapunzel's Song" - Rapunzel
"The Cow As White As Milk" - The Baker's Wife and The Baker
"I Know Things Now" - Little Red Riding Hood
"A Very Nice Prince" - Cinderella and The Baker's Wife
"Giants in the Sky" - Jack
"Agony" - Cinderella's Prince and Rapunzel's Prince
"It Takes Two" - The Baker's Wife and The Baker
"Stay with Me" - The Witch
"On the Steps of the Palace" - Cinderella
"Careful My Toe" - Cinderella's Stepmother, Florinda, and Lucinda
"Witch's Lament" - The Witch
"Any Moment" - Cinderella's Prince and The Baker's Wife
"Moments in the Woods" - The Baker's Wife
"Your Fault" - Jack, The Baker, The Witch, Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella
"Last Midnight" - The Witch
"No One Is Alone" - Cinderella, The Baker, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack
"Children Will Listen (Finale)" Part 1 - The Baker, The Baker's Wife, The Witch, and Company
"Children Will Listen (Finale)" Part 2 - Company
The following songs - originating from the musical - were cut from the film: "I Guess This Is Goodbye", "Maybe They're Magic", "Our Little World", "Maybe They're Magic (Reprise)", "First Midnight", "A Very Nice Prince (Reprise)", "Second Midnight", "Act One Finale (Part 3)", "Act 1 Finale (Part 4): Ever After" (Instrumental heard in film), "Act Two Opening (So Happy)", "Agony" (Reprise), "Any Moment (Part 2)", "No More" (Instrumental heard in film), and "Act Two Finale (Part 1)". The Act Two Finale (Part 4) plays over the credits, but is not actually seen in the film.
Stage-to-screen changes
In June 2014, Stephen Sondheim revealed that Disney decided to make some major plot changes to the film in order to make it more family-friendly and he approved them all.[21]
Sondheim was at Sardi's in New York City to discuss with a couple of high school drama teachers about the changes people will expect in the film. When a teacher raised concerns about the relationship between Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, citing "infidelity, a wolf being lascivious, that the whole connection with Red Riding Hood is sexual," Sondheim replied, "Well, you'll be happy to know that Disney had the same objections." He added, "You will find in the movie that Rapunzel does not get killed, and the Prince does not sleep with the [Baker's Wife]." Sondheim explained, “You know, if I were a Disney executive I would probably say the same thing." When asked, "Can you let [students] read the original and then discuss why, say, Rapunzel is not allowed to die in the adulterated version?" Sondheim responded, "We do that, but they just get angry. They feel censored—they don’t feel trusted. And they're right. But you have to explain to them that censorship is part of our puritanical ethics, and it’s something that they’re going to have to deal with. There has to be a point at which you don't compromise anymore, but that may mean that you won’t get anyone to sell your painting or perform your musical. You have to deal with reality."[22]
Another teacher asked if the song "Any Moment", which bookends the encounter between Cinderella's Prince and the Baker's Wife, will remain. "The song is cut," Sondheim said. That revelation upset fans of the original stage show, prompting him to tell the attendees, "I'm sorry. I should say, it's probably cut." Sondheim told fans that he and James Lapine fought for the song's inclusion in the movie. "But Disney said, we don't want Rapunzel to die, so we re-plotted it," the composer explained. "I won't tell you what happens, but we wrote a new song to cover it."[23] Sondheim revealed that the film version would feature two new songs: one called "Rainbows", and another for The Witch.[24] The song "She'll Be Back", written by Sondheim specifically for Streep, was cut from the film, though it will be preserved in the video release.[25]
Sondheim later released a statement, saying that the film is a faithful adaptation of the musical and "a first-rate movie"; the Prince does have an affair with the Baker's wife, "Any Moment" is in the film as well, and that all of the reports pertaining to the changes were false.[26][27]
Marshall later told Entertainment Weekly that fans should not worry about the changes made. One of the changes was that Rapunzel does not have the same fate as she does in the original musical. Marshall told EW, "Rapunzel's end is still pretty dark, it's just a different kind of dark, and it's just as harrowing, and just as sad." The director also told EW that "Ever After" is now instrumental. Songs also cut were Sondheim's new song for the movie "Rainbows" and the new song written for The Witch. "It was beautiful and spectacular, but it was very clear, as good as the song was, that [the movie] was stronger without.", Marshall proclaimed. He concluded, "It'll all be very clear when people see it. They’ll understand, it’s all there."[28] The sexual undertones between the Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood were also subdued to avoid any overly-obvious hints of pedophilia.[29]
Other changes include the fact that the narrator is now simply the Baker, in voiceover. The role of the "Mysterious Man", which turns out to be the Baker's father, is now only a minor role in the character of his father's ghost. In addition, the subplot where the two princes have affairs with Snow White and Sleeping Beauty is eliminated. The death of Jack's Mother is less violent in this version; on stage, the Steward clubs her to death with his cane, in the film, he simply shoves her to the ground and she hits her head on a log. The minor role of Cinderella's Father is also cut, and is instead mentioned as being deceased. Another difference is in the stage play, after Rapunzel is banished, she bears twins. This does not appear in the film.
After the critical and commercial success of Chicago in 2002, director Rob Marshall approached Stephen Sondheim as he was interested in adapting one of his musicals such as Follies and Sweeney Todd, although Sondheim suggested Into the Woods instead.[34] Marshall concurred, although development of the project was postponed as Marshall went off to direct Memoirs of a Geisha and Nine. In 2011, Marshall rekindled his interest in the project after hearing a speech by President Barack Obama for the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Marshall firmly believed that Into the Woods was “a fairy tale for the post-9/11 generation".[35] In January 2012, Marshall approached Walt Disney Pictures, which had just produced Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and pitched the idea to the studio,[34] with Lapine writing the script and Sondheim "expected" to write new songs.[36]Academy Award-winner Dion Beebe, who previously collaborated with Marshall on Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Nine, served as cinematographer.[37] Sondheim confirmed that a new song had been written for the film.[38] In June 2013, The Walt Disney Studios stated that the film had been commissioned, and scheduled a release date for Christmas Day 2014.[7][39]
With Disney's backing, an updated reading of the screenplay directed by Marshall took place in October 2012, with Nina Arianda as the Baker's Wife, Victoria Clark as Cinderella's Mother/Granny/Giant, James Corden as the Baker, Donna Murphy as the Witch, Christine Baranski as Cinderella's Stepmother, Tammy Blanchard as Florinda, Ivan Hernandez as the Wolf, Megan Hilty as Lucinda, Cheyenne Jackson as Rapunzel's Prince, Allison Janney as Jack's Mother, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Michael McGrath as Steward/Mysterious Man, Laura Osnes as Rapunzel, Taylor Trensch as Jack, Casey Whyland as Little Red Riding Hood, and Patrick Wilson as Cinderella's Prince.[40] Reports subsequently surfaced in January 2013 that Meryl Streep had been cast to play the Witch.[41][42] During that month, it was reported that Janney had been confirmed to join the film as well.[43] Five months later, however, Tracey Ullman was cast as Jack's Mother instead.[17]
In April 2013, Johnny Depp was in final negotiations, along with Streep, to join the film.[8][13] In May, James Corden, who took part in the reading of the screenplay, was in talks to play the role of the Baker.[44] On 10 May, Disney confirmed the casting of Streep, Depp, and Corden as the Witch, the Big Bad Wolf, and the Baker, respectively.[10] That same month, Emily Blunt and Christine Baranski were cast as The Baker's wife and Cinderella's Stepmother, respectively,[18][45][46] whereas Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Pine entered negotiations to play the Princes.[12] However, Gyllenhaal dropped out of the film due to scheduling conflicts with another film, Nightcrawler and was subsequently replaced by Billy Magnussen.[19][47] One month later, Anna Kendrick began talks to play Cinderella in the film.[11] In July, MacKenzie Mauzy, Tammy Blanchard, Lucy Punch and Daniel Huttlestone joined the cast.[9][15][16]Sophia Grace Brownlee was originally cast as Little Red Riding Hood.[48] Brownlee's casting attracted controversy due to her age and the sexual undertones present between Little Red and the Wolf.[49][50][51] The film's official cast and plot synopsis were revealed at the D23 Expo on August 10, 2013.[52][53] On September 16, 2013, Lilla Crawford was confirmed as playing the character of Little Red Riding Hood, despite previous reports suggesting Brownlee.[14] Later on, Dominic Brownlee spoke about his daughter, Sophia Grace's withdrawal from the movie saying, "After careful consideration, we the parents of Sophia Grace, felt that as rehearsals progressed that she was too young for this part. It was a joint decision between us and the director and producer of Into the Woods to withdraw Sophia Grace from the film."[54] Other castings of Richard Glover, Frances de la Tour, Simon Russell Beale, Joanna Riding, and Annette Crosbie were announced later the same day.[20]
Filming
Principal photography took place at London's Shepperton Studios in September 2013, with additional filming taking place at Dover Castle, Waverley Abbey[55][56] and Richmond Park.[57][58] Filming concluded on November 27, 2013.[59] But on July 14, 2014, Steve Baldwin posted on a social networking site that reshoots were made during the whole month of July.[60] The following month, however, Rob Marshall denied the film went through re-shoots.[28] Instead, they spent three days shooting new material that had been cut and re-added to the script after Disney screened the movie.[28] For his role as the Wolf, Depp worked closely with the film's costume designer Colleen Atwood to create a Tex Avery-inspired costume, complete with zoot suit and fedora.[61]
Instead of singing live, the majority of the songs were pre-recorded by the cast.[2] The film's soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on December 16, 2014.[62]
Release
The first official company presentation took place at the 2013 Disney D23 expo.[63] The official teaser trailer debuted on July 31, 2014.[64][65] A featurette was released showing behind-the-scenes clips and the vocals of Streep, Kendrick, Blunt and others.[66] A second trailer was released on November 6, 2014.[67]
Into the Woods began playing across North American theaters on December 24, 2014 and earned $1.1 million from late night Christmas Eve showings[69][70] and $15.08 million on its opening day (including previews) from 2,440 theaters.[71] Its opening day gross is the fourth-biggest Christmas Day debut and the sixth-biggest Christmas Day gross ever.[3] The film was among one of the four widely released film on December 25, 2014. The other three being Universal Pictures' Unbroken (3,131 theaters), Paramount Pictures' The Gambler (2,478 theaters), and TWC's Big Eyes (1,307 theaters).[72] It earned $31,021,000 in its tradition three-day opening ($47.1 million including its Christmas Day gross) debuting at #3 at the box office behind The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Unbroken which is the third-biggest musical opening of all time behind High School Musical 3: Senior Year ($42 million) and Enchanted ($34.4 million).[73] In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave Into the Woods an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale which isn't considered good for a family-friendly movie.[73]
Critical response
Despite early screenings prior to the film's release, Disney issued an embargo on professional reviews of the film.[74]Into the Woods received positive reviews from critics. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 71% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 129 reviews, with the site's consensus being: "On the whole, this Disney adaptation of the Sondheim classic sits comfortably at the corner of Hollywood and Broadway — even if it darkens to its detriment in the final act."[75] Another aggregate, Metacritic, calculates a score of 70 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[76]
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "benefits from respect for the source material, enticing production values and a populous gallery of sharp character portraits from a delightful cast".[77]Stephen Holden of The New York Times lauded the film, writing; "Into the Woods, the splendid Disney screen adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical, infuses new vitality into the tired marketing concept of entertainment for children of all ages."[78] Scott Mendelson of Forbes gave a positive review calling the film "Rob Marshall's best movie ever" and praised the film for its genuine entertainment and for the strong performances of the cast.[79] Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote, "Into the Woods, the splendid Disney screen adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical, infuses new vitality into the tired marketing concept of entertainment for 'children of all ages'. That usually translates to mean only children and their doting parents. But with Into the Woods, you grow up with the characters, young and old, in a lifelong process of self-discovery."[80]Richard Corliss of Time gave a positive review, stating that the film was a "smart, appealing, upside-down children’s story for adults of all ages".[81]
Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp, Lilla Crawford, Daniel Huttlestone, MacKenzie Mauzy, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski, Tammy Blanchard, Lucy Punch, Billy Magnussen, and Frances de la Tour
^Lyons, Margaret (August 8, 2013). "Internet Child Sophia Grace Cast in Into the Woods". Vulture. Retrieved September 5, 2013. Typically Little Red is a bit older than 10, given that the character experiences a sexual awakening — at the menacing and kind of rape-y hands of The (Big Bad) Wolf, who will be played in this incarnation by Johnny Depp. Yes, 50-year-old Johnny Depp is going to sing "Hello, Little Girl" ("Look at that flesh / pink and plump") to Sophia Grace.
