Beatrix Potter’s beloved childhood story of Peter Rabbit will soon be adapted into a hybrid live-action film by Sony, and the upcoming project has now announced some brilliant casting news.
Variety is reporting that James Corden and Rose Byrne are now on-board for the 2018 film. Corden, who’s been very busy as of late hosting The Late Late Show will be voicing Peter Rabbit himself. And, as Byrne is still in negotiations, there’s no word yet on who’ll she’ll be playing. However, it’s suspected that she’ll star as one of the live-action characters.
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Directed by Will Gluck, Peter Rabbit will combine both CG animation and live-action cinematography to bring Beatrix’s fantastical world to life. There’s little currently known about the film adaptation, but Peter Rabbit is reportedly meant to be a contemporary retelling of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Penned as a comedy, the film will focus on the growing conflict between Peter Rabbit and his surly neighbor, Mr. McGregor.
So, I don’t know about you, but I’m really thinking they should tap Ewan McGregor to play Peter’s rival if not sheerly because of their name-play.
As of right now, the film is still in pre-production as Gluck is reworking the script following its first drafting. As the film is scheduled to bounce into theaters on March 23rd 2018, Gluck clearly has some time left to finish his rewrites before shooting gets underway.
For these actors, Peter Rabbit will mark a definite departure from their normal projects. Corden’s last big-screen appearance was seen with the musical Into The Woods while Byrne recently starred in Fox’s X-Men: Apocalypse. This, however, isn’t the first time Peter Rabbit has leapt from the pages of its storybooks. The franchise was first turned into a ballet film by in 1971, and most recently, Nickelodeon has been airing an animated children’s series based on the fluffy character that premiered in 2012.
