“Into the Woods” could become even more familiar territory for Meryl, as two previous co-stars have been recently announced to be possible additions. According to Variety, Emily Blunt is finalizing a deal to join the Disney’s musical playing the Baker’s wife, while The Wrap reports that Christine Baranski could be joining the cast as well. Baranski participated in a reading of the script back in October where she played Cinderella’s mean-spirited and demanding stepmother. As with Chris Pine and Jake Gyllenhaal, who are circling the princely roles of Cinderella and Rapunzel’s self-absorbed love interests, Baranski has not received an offer yet. However, an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap she’s in talks to join the cast, though a scheduling conflict with “The Good Wife” is one obstacle that must be overcome. Thanks to Frank and Glenn for the heads-up!

Since the announcement of Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp leading Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods”, more famous names have surfaced for parts in the film. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Pine are in talks to join the Disney musical. Deal-making hasn’t quite begun but the two actors met and even sang for director Rob Marshall for their respective parts and are expected to receive offers to join the star-studded cast. If deals close, Gyllenhaal and Pine would play their first on-screen singing roles. And according to BroadwayWorld, singer Jewel is about to audition as well. She has taken to Twitter to muse on a particularly intriguing topic – singing the music of Stephen Sondheim, specifically the tricky “On The Steps Of The Palace” and followed with “Been working hard all weekend on an audition for a movie. Fingers crossed.” Why exactly is Jewel singing Sondheim’s “On The Steps Of The Palace”? What movie could she be auditioning for soon? She is not necessarily known for her musical theatre covers done in concert, after all. Indeed, the singer and sometimes actress has not been announced to be taking part in any upcoming production of “Into the Woods”, nor even scheduled to be a guest at a concert of Sondheim’s material as of this writing, so could she possibly be participating in the forthcoming feature film adaptation? Thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

According to BroadwayWorld, a new casting notice for Disney confirms the commitment of Streep and Depp in the film’s pivotal roles, along with the addition of James Corden playing the Baker: “Starring in “Into The Woods” is three-time Academy Award nominee and Disney favorite Johnny Depp, who is playing a hungry and sexy vicissitude of the fairy tale Wolf. Also starring as the vain and charismatic Witch is three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep. Rounding out the first three roles Disney has cast is Tony Award winner James Corden playing the role of The Baker. Corden, who is hugely popular in England, recently played the role of “Britain’s Got Talent” sensation Paul Potts in the film “One Chance”.” The casting notice is available here. Thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

BroadwayWorld has a few more bits on the upcoming “Into the Woods” adaptation. According to a recent casting notice, Rob Marshall’s film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical is set to begin shooting this September in England. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Meryl Streep is set to play ‘The Witch’ in the film by Warner Bros/Disney, with Johnny Depp in negotiations to join. According to Variety, Depp will play ‘The Baker’ – while The Hollywood Reporter claims that he will play “a hungry and sexy variation of the fairy tale wolf character.” At the very least, Depp is all but confirmed for the film, Deadline announced. James Lapine, the original book writer of “Into the Woods”, is reworking the script for the screenplay, while Sondheim is expected to contribute some new songs.

Here’s an update on “Into the Woods” courtesy Deadline: Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep filming together and singing. Who can resist? Not Disney any longer. It’s taken 16 months to get off the ground – ever since January 2012, when the studio sent out a press release announcing Rob Marshall (Chicago, Nine) would be directing Stephen Sondheim’s iconic 1987 Broadway musical Into The Woods as a feature film for Disney. A table read was held in NYC this past October featuring Donna Murphy, Megan Hilty, Christine Baranski, Allison Janney and quite a few other Broadway stars. Buzz of Streep’s interest first surfaced last summer and this past week Marshall confirmed in an interview to Playbill that she was “in” to the play the witch. Today Variety reported Depp’s interest. Now I’ve confirmed that Johnny and Meryl “almost have their deals wrapped up for the film,” according to sources. Marshall directed 2011’s Pirates Of The Caribbean 4 (which might have been more palatable as a musical because it stunk as the franchise’s fourquel) so he’s already Mouse friendly. The original musical with music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by James Lapine is about a childless baker and his wife who attempt to lift a family curse by journeying into the woods to confront the witch that put the spell on them. Along the way, they encounter classic fairy tale characters. Thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

Frequent readers will remember previous news on two new projects for Meryl – Tommy Lee Jones’ “The Homesman” and the screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods”. The reason why there hasn’t been more information on both projects is because they haven’t been officially announced and the statements as of now didn’t sound very reliable. Today, BroadwayWorld has translated a recent interview that Meryl gave to a Chinese newspaper about “The Iron Lady” in which she seems to confirm both films. If you wonder why there is a promotional interview for a film that’s been released two years ago, BWW gives you a clue – it’s only been released in Beijing last month. “Streep tells the newspaper that following the wrap of shooting the stage-to-screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Tracy Letts drama August: Osage County she will then film the Tommy Lee Jones-directed The Homesman. Following finishing those two films, in October, she steps in front of cameras in the central featured role of The Witch in director Rob Marshall’s highly-anticipated new feature film version of the beloved adult fairy tale-themed musical Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine.” Another article on the Homesman yesterday as well. According to the New Mexico Film Office, principal photography is scheduled for the end of March through mid-May at various locations in the Las Vegas, N.M., and Santa Fe areas”. I couldn’t find this original press release as it was only stated in this article. But since “the end of March” is just around the corner, they might be some confirmation on the film in form of set pictures soon.

Back in October, there were news about a film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Into the Woods” with Meryl in talks to play the Witch. Now, according to Broadway World, the casting seems to be announced. In a new interview with the Litchfield County Times with arranger David Krane confirms, telling the paper that: “I am coming into an exciting time,” said Mr. Krane in a telephone interview from New York City. “My show, “The Road to Qatar,’ is being presented in London next month and then I am doing a revival of an old show, ‘Good News’ at the Goodspeed Opera House. And then the biggest news-they are doing a movie of the musical ‘Into the Woods.’ Disney is going to make the movie and I will do the arrangements. Meryl Streep will be the witch and it will be the first time I have worked with her since 1977 when we did ‘Happy End.’ For one, a new project would make sense since “August: Osage County” is wrapped, but as always I’d consider a project official once the film studio makes an announcement or Meryl mentions it in an interview. The same can be said about recent news of Tommy Lee Jones’ next film “The Horseman”, which has been announced some time back as a vehicle for Meryl – so far, there hasn’t been an official confirmation. Let’s see what happens…