I clearly went for the click bait title on this one. Obviously, Johnny Depp is a big star, and he has the potential to draw in a lot of people to this film (even though lately that has not been the case). The first Into The Woods trailer (included at the bottom of this post) kept the look of Depp’s Wolf a secret, only showing his hand, but now Entertainment Weekly is giving us the first full look at what the Wolf looks like, and I have to say, I am a fan.
When the film was announced, I had a horrible feeling the Wolf would be just some CG thing, and actually, he is far less Wolf than he is guy in a fur suit. It is an interesting design choice, and I hope it pays off. Considering the small role the Wolf plays in the film (yes, Depp fans, he is a very small part), it bothers me a little he has to be so heavily promoted, but we do not always get what we want.
The covers also give us the first look of Meryl Streep as the Witch, post-transformation, which is a bit of a spoiler. That is something I am not happy is being put in the marketing, but, again, you have to sell the movie. Streep does look good with blue hair. Depp is paired with Lilla Crawford as Little Red Riding Hood on his cover and Streep with Mackenzie Mauzy as Rapunzel. Emily Blunt and James Corden get their own cover as the Baker and his wife, as well as Anna Kendrick and Chris Pine as Cinderella and her prince. It is a little sad Blunt and Corden are sort of afterthoughts on this, as they are ostensibly the leads.
I am trying to stay optimistic about this film. It deserves to be great. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine‘s delving into the darkness of human behavior through classic fairy tale stories is beautiful and rich, and director Rob Marshall, along with Disney, could easily screw it up. It is a high risk, high reward film adaptation. But, you know, you have to go “into the woods to get the thing that makes it worth the journeying.” Magazine covers do not do much (or anything at all) to sway me in one direction or the other on a film. The film will do that itself, and I hope it is great. The film will be released December 25th, so you and the family can see it for the holidays.
You can check out the EW covers below:
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