Paramount To Turn ‘The King & I’ Into New Film; Temple Hill Producing
Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights to Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I, and the studio aims to mount a moving and vivid retelling of the classic East meets West story.
Marty Bowen & Wyck Godfrey’s Temple Hill will produce. Concord, who acquired the Rodgers & Hammerstein catalogue in 2017, will also serve in a producing capacity.
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The first film made from the stage musical was directed by Walter Lang and starred Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. The 1956 Fox film won five Oscars out of nine nominations, including a Best Actor win for Brynner. In the classic story, Anna Leonowens sets sail from England for Bangkok, Siam (now Thailand) to take the position of schoolteacher for the royal court of the King of Siam.
Studio believes this new adaptation brings a tremendous opportunity to reimagine this classic story with a contemporary perspective that explores diversity and the contrasting worldviews of the characters by drawing from real history and the musical.
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