It’s been a good week or so for crocodiles. In addition to a high-profile cameo in Loki on Disney+, we now have an Academy Award-winning actor attached to Sony’s upcoming film adaptation of the children’s book Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. The book, published in 1965, was actually the second book to use the character of Lyle the Crocodile from author Bernard Waber. The series, which began with The House on East 88th Street, follows the life of Lyle, a city-dwelling crocodile who lives in a Victorian brownstone with a family named the Primms. There are nine books in the series in total, stretching from 1962 until 2010.
Deadline, who first broke the news, report that Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Oscar-winning songwriters who brought movie audiences the music of La La Land and the forthcoming film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen, will write original songs for the film. Will Speck and Josh Gordon are set to direct form a scrtipt by Will Davies.
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Here’s how Deadline summarizes the logline, which may be official from Sony (synopses like this often debut in casting notes), or may be Deadline’s own take on the premise of the book series. In either case, it has appeared online dozens of times since the movie was announced, per a quick Google search, so it’s worth including for a sense of what shape the movie seems to be taking:
“First published in 1965, the venerable children’s tale revolves around the title reptile who lives in a house on East 88th Street in New York City. Lyle enjoys helping the Primm family with everyday chores, and playing with the neighborhood kids. He’s the happiest crocodile any home ever had…until one neighbor insists that Lyle belongs in a zoo. Mr. Grumps and his cat, Loretta, don’t like crocodiles, and everything Lyle does to win them over seems to go wrong. It will take all of Lyle’s charm — and courage — to reveal the hero, and friend, behind the big crocodile smile.”
There’s no word on whether Bardem will be providing the voice of Lyle, Mr. Primm, or someone else entirely. Besides No Country For Old Men, which earned Bardem an Oscar, the veteran actor is best known for Skyfall, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Eat Pray Love, and numerous Spanish-language movies, some of which have been popular enough to make the transition to being American hits at arthouse theaters and on video. He will play King Triton in the currently-in-production live-action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid.
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is expected to hit theaters on July 22, 2022.
