The Princess Bride is in rarefied air when it comes to cult-classic status, as it feels like a whole generation was in some way affected by the 1987 film, and would likely immediately recognize lines like “My name is Inigo Montoya” and “Humperdinck” if you said them out loud. The beloved film is also getting a musical adaptation, which has been in some form of development since 2019. Recently, ComicBook had the chance to speak to director Rob Reiner, who not only directed the original Princess Bride but is also back at the helm of another beloved film property in Spinal Tap II. During that conversation, he revealed his thoughts on possibly remaking the original film and its in-development musical, and it’s understandable why it bothers him a little.
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When asked if he’s ever outraged by mentions about possibly remaking The Princess Bride, Reiner revealed that he already knew Disney had the rights to do a musical adaptation based on the film, as he had actually previously tried to get a musical version off the ground many years ago. That was under the blessing of Princess Bride author and creator William Goldman, though, so while he hopes this new version is great, Reiner admits it does bother him a bit.
“Well, you know something? It does bother me a little bit, and I’m going to be honest, completely honest. I read something yesterday, and this is something I knew about because I knew that, you know, Disney had gotten the rights to do a musical, a Disney Live, you know, live theater, to do a musical,” Reiner said. “And I knew about it because, first I met with them. This was many years ago, and Bill Goldman was still alive at the time and he was okay with the idea of doing it, a stage musical.”
“So I met with Marc Shaiman, who I’ve worked with for years. I met with Randy Newman. I met with John Mayer, and they all said this is great, but I don’t want to go anywhere near this. This is too, you know, and so it kind of went away,” Reiner said. “And then I hear yesterday, now I hope it’s great. I want it to be great, but there’s another team that, I think it’s the person who directed Hamilton, and there are a couple of writers, songwriters that are going to do it, and I hope it’s good, but it bothers me a little bit because, you know, this was my, I read every book that Bill Goldman ever wrote, and this was my favorite book that he ever wrote. And I was very good close friends with him.”
“When I first met him, you know, he greeted me at the door and said Princess Bride is my favorite thing that I’ve ever written. I want it on my tombstone. What are you going to do with it? And I told him I wanted to preserve his book as close to it as it’s possible, which we did. And I was close with Bill until he died. I was there, I met, I sat with them 3 or 4 days before he died, and so it just bothers me a little bit. It does bother me a little. Like I said, I hope it’s great, I want it to be great, but it does bother me a little bit,” Reiner said.
This particular iteration of the project has been in development since 2019, and it will be interesting to see if it finally becomes a reality with the new creative team attached (via Deadline), which includes Robert Lopez, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Alex Timbers, and Jeffrey Seller trying to bring it to life. Previously, Disney Theatrical Productions and composer David Yazbek were attached, but they are no longer with the project. Writers Bob Martin and Rick Elice and music supervisor Tom Kitt are still on board.
What do you think of The Princess Bride musical? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things The Princess Bride with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!
Secure your tickets to see This Is Spinal Tap on the big screen again here.
