The Witch's demands bring the Baker and his wife into contact with Jack, who is selling his beloved cow, Milky-White, and to whom the Baker offers the magic beans his father left him, which Jack's mother accidentally grows into a large beanstalk; with Red Riding Hood, whose red cape the couple noticed when she stopped by the bakery earlier to buy and steal bread and sweets on her way to her grandmother's house; with the blonde Rapunzel (the Witch's adopted daughter and Baker's biological sister), whose tower the Baker's wife finds in the woods; and with Cinderella, who runs into the Baker's wife while fleeing the Prince and whose ball outfit includes gold slippers.[5]
However, each of the characters learn that their endings don't remain happy: the Baker is worried that he is a poor father to his newborn baby; the Baker's wife lets the Prince temporarily seduce her; Cinderella is disenchanted by her cheating Prince; and the Witch learns that she has lost her powers in exchange for her youth and beauty, after being rejected by Rapunzel, who then runs off with her Prince. The growth of a second beanstalk from the last remaining magic bean allows the Giant's widow to climb down and threaten the kingdom if no one delivers Jack in retribution for killing her husband. The characters attempt to find and protect Jack. In the process, Red Riding Hood's mother and grandmother, Jack's mother and the Baker's wife are killed. The Baker, Cinderella, Jack and Red Riding Hood all blame each other for their individual actions that led to the tragedy, ultimately blaming the Witch for growing the beans in the first place. She curses them all for their inability to accept any responsibility, as well as their refusal to do the "right thing" (handing Jack over). Casting all the remaining beans away, the Witch begs her mother to punish her again, and she abandons the group by melting into a large pit of boiling tar.
The remaining characters resolve to kill the threatening Giant's widow, though they discuss the complicated morality of retribution and revenge in the process. They lure the Giant's widow into stepping in the tar pit, where she trips and falls with a tree crushing her. With the Giant's widow dead, the characters move forward with their lives. The Baker, thinking of his wife, is determined to be a good father. Cinderella decides to leave her Prince and help the Baker with Jack and Red Riding Hood, as they are now orphans, and will be moving into the bakery. The Baker comforts his son by telling the story of the film as the movie ends with the Witch's moral ("Children will Listen"), which means children can change due to their parents' actions and behaviors.
Early attempts to adapt Into the Woods to film occurred in the early 1990s, with a script by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. A reading was held with a cast that included Robin Williams as the Baker, Goldie Hawn as the Baker's Wife, Cher as the Witch, Danny DeVito as the Giant, Steve Martin as the Wolf, and Roseanne as Jack's Mother.[30] By 1991, Columbia Pictures and Jim Henson Productions were also developing a film adaptation with Craig Zadan as producer and Rob Minkoff as director.[31][32] In 1997, Columbia put the film into turnaround, with Minkoff still attached as director, and Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, and Susan Sarandon reportedly in talks to star.[33] After the report by Variety, a film adaptation of Into the Woods remained inactive for 15 years.
Principal photography took place at London's Shepperton Studios in September 2013, with additional filming at Dover Castle, Hambleden, Waverley Abbey,[63][64][65] and Richmond Park.[66][67] A forest of ancient pine trees in Windsor Great Park was used for many of the scenes in the woods.[68] Marshall struggled with how to stage the melodramatic duet "Agony" in the forest until discovering online that Windsor had an artificial waterfall at Virginia Water Lake, which turned out to be the perfect setting.[68] The production was shot digitally, using Arri Alexa cameras configured in a two-camera setup,[62] and footage was edited together in Avid Media Composer.[62] The exterior of Byfleet Manor in Surrey served as Cinderella's home.[69]
The filmmakers spent a whole day shooting scenes involving Rapunzel's hair being climbed.[54] Mauzy said the filmmakers wanted to take advantage of her blonde hair, and that the top of Rapunzel's hair was her real hair; makeup artists only braided it into the extension.[54] This hair extension was engineered by hair designer Peter King.[70] After testing loose, flowing hair that King found "uncontrollable", he decided to have 27 wefts of real hair woven into a 30-foot braid, a design inspired by an Arthur Rackham illustration of Rapunzel.[70] To bring in enough real Russian hair strands for the extension, King and his team worked with several distributors from Germany and England.[70] The hair-braiding process required three people, each holding a separate strand and weaving in and out.[70] King also dyed the wefts to match Mauzy's hair color, and blended together six different shades from ash and strawberry to create realistic gradations and highlights.[70] Between scenes, Mauzy had to "wrap [the hair] around her arm like huge rolls of wool", King recalled.[70] A stuntman was used to shoot the hair-climbing scenes,[54] with thin rope and metal rings the only tools concealed in the braid to hold a climbing person's weight.[70]
The film's final shot, which essentially merges into and links back to its first shot, actually transitions digitally between three shots: a Technocrane on location lifting as high as possible into the sky, an aerial drone flying down a valley in Wales, and a shot of an overcast sky in Manhattan, New York City.[71] Filming concluded on November 27, 2013.[72]
Into the Woods began playing across North American theaters on December 24, 2014, and earned $1.1 million from late-night Christmas Eve showings[91][92] and $15.08 million on opening day (including previews) from 2,440 theaters.[93] Its opening-day gross was the fourth-biggest Christmas Day debut and the sixth-biggest Christmas Day gross ever.[94] The film was one of four films put into wide release on December 25, 2014, the other three being Universal Pictures' Unbroken (3,131 theaters), Paramount Pictures' The Gambler (2,478 theaters), and TWC's Big Eyes (1,307 theaters).[95] It earned $31.1 million in its traditional three-day opening ($46.1 million including its Christmas Day gross), debuting at #2 at the box office behind The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and achieving the highest opening weekend for a film based on a Broadway musical (previously held by Mamma Mia!).[96][97] The film's $3.5 million debut in Japan marked the largest opening for a 21st-century live-action musical film.[98]
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "benefits from respect for the source material, enticing production values and a populous gallery of sharp character portraits from a delightful cast".[104] Stephen Holden of The New York Times lauded the film, writing; "Into the Woods, the splendid Disney screen adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical, infuses new vitality into the tired marketing concept of entertainment for 'children of all ages'".[105] Leonard Maltin called the movie "one of the year's best films".[106] Similarly, Pete Hammond of Deadline praised the film as "the most dazzling movie musical since Marshall's own Chicago." and praised the performance of the cast, particularly Streep. Lou Lumerick of the New York Post called the film "this century's best musical" and lauded the performances of Streep and Blunt as the best female performances of the year. Scott Mendelson of Forbes gave a positive review declaring the film "Rob Marshall's best movie ever" and praised it for its genuine entertainment and strong cast performances.[107] Richard Corliss of Time gave a positive review, stating that the film was a "smart, appealing, upside-down children's story for adults of all ages".[108] Gregory Ellwood of HitFix tapped Streep as an Academy Award contender in the Best Supporting Actress category, and also praised the performance of Chris Pine.[109]
Cinderella receives a gown and golden slippers from her mother's spirit ("Cinderella at the Grave"). A mysterious man mocks Jack for valuing his cow more than a "sack of beans". Little Red meets a hungry wolf, who persuades her, with ulterior motives, to take a longer path and admire the beauty of the woods ("Hello, Little Girl"). The baker, followed by his wife, meets Jack. They convince him that the beans in the baker's father's jacket are magic and trade them for the cow; Jack bids Milky White a tearful farewell ("I Guess This Is Goodbye"). The baker has qualms about their deceit, but his wife reassures him ("Maybe They're Magic").
The witch has raised Rapunzel in a tall tower accessible only by climbing Rapunzel's long, golden hair ("Our Little World"); a prince spies Rapunzel. The baker, in pursuit of Little Red's cape ("Maybe They're Magic" Reprise), slays the wolf and rescues Little Red and her grandmother. Little Red rewards him with her cape, and reflects on her experiences ("I Know Things Now"). Jack's mother tosses aside his beans, which grow into an enormous stalk. Cinderella flees the festival, pursued by another prince, and the baker's wife hides her; asked about the ball, Cinderella is unimpressed ("A Very Nice Prince"). Spotting Cinderella's gold slippers, the baker's wife chases her and loses Milky White. The characters recite morals as the day ends ("First Midnight").
The baker's wife again fails to seize Cinderella's slippers. The baker admits they must work together ("It Takes Two"). Jack arrives with a hen that lays golden eggs, but Milky White keels over dead as midnight chimes ("Second Midnight"). The Witch discovers the prince's visits and demands Rapunzel stay sheltered from the world ("Stay with Me"). Rapunzel refuses, and the witch cuts off Rapunzel's hair and banishes her. The mysterious man gives the baker money for another cow. Jack meets Little Red, now sporting a wolfskin cape and knife. She goads him into returning to the giants' home to retrieve a golden harp.
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