Gossip: Disney's Frozen for stage adaptation?

Frozen, Disney's biggest animated success in almost 20 years, will one day become a Broadway musical, the company's CEO and chairman has revealed.

Speaking to Fortune magazine, Robert Iger confirmed that early discussions were taking place regarding a possible stage adaptation, though at present the project hasn't been given a set timeline. "We're not demanding speed," he said, "We're demanding excellence."

The film, loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Snow Queen, achieved the highest-grossing debut weekend of any Disney animation and has taken in excess of $669m (£407m) worldwide since November. It is being tipped to overtake The Lion King, Disney Animation's current bestseller with a worldwide gross of $987.5m. Adapting that for the stage has raked in more than $1bn on Broadway alone and last year, it took the title of Broadway's biggest seller with approximately $96.9m worth of receipts.

Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/2013 WireImage

During a recent interview with West End Frame, Frozen's directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee revealed that they would love to be involved with a stage adaptation of the film. 

Chris Buck said: "I think that would be really fun! I would love to see visually how they would translate what we’ve done on screen onto the stage. Olaf (the snowman) would be a challenge with his head falling off all the time!"

Jennifer Lee: "Why not?! I think there’s so much more you could do musically that we couldn’t do in a ninety minute film. But even in terms of music Christophe Beck and Robert and Kristen were so playful and I am sure they would do a great job! I can’t wait to roll rocks around the stage [laughs]! A new challenge sounds great to me."

Click here to read the full interview.

The film's soundtrack, which took the top spot in the US music charts, is composed by Robert Lopez, who won Tony awards for The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q, and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The film also stars Broadway actors Idina Menzel and Jonathan Groff.

Frozen picked up the Golden Globe for best animated film on Sunday and has been tipped for success at the Oscars in March. It is currently the fourth highest-grossing original animation of all-time after The Lion King, Finding Nemo and Up.

Click here to read West End Frame's 5* review of Frozen.

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