Praise the gods! Disney+ developing “Once on This Island” musical adaptation
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Disney is bringing more Broadway to its streaming platform Disney+.
EW has confirmed that the studio is developing an adaptation of the musical Once on This Island, which debuted on the Great White Way in 1990. The musical, set in the Caribbean's French Antilles, tells the story of a peasant girl named Ti Moune who falls in love with an aristocrat. This prompts a wager among the island's gods as to whether love or death is stronger, which plays out as a backdrop to the class-conscious romance.
Writer Jocelyn Bioh (Russian Doll, She's Gotta Have It) is attached for the film adaptation along with producer Marc Platt (La La Land) and director Wanuri Kahiu, the Kenyan filmmaker behind 2018's Rafiki. The LGBTQ film became the first Kenyan movie to screen at the Cannes Film Festival, defying a ban from Kahiu's home country.
Unlike Hamilton, which arrived on Disney+ as a filmed stage performance, Once on This Island will be a traditional live-action film adaptation. That's a bit of a shame, as the musical's most recent Broadway production, which closed last year, won the Tony Award for Best Revival and much critical acclaim. Check out the cast's performance from the 2018 ceremony to get accordingly hyped and/or disappointed.
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