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Last week in Los Angeles I landed an exclusive video interview with director Rob Marshall for his adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s classic stage musical, Into the Woods.  During our conversation we discussed the making of Into the Woods (which included five weeks of rehearsal that was invaluable when it came to making the film work), the positive reviews, the length of the first cut, what he learned from test audiences and screening the film for family and friends, deleted scenes (including one that featured Meryl Streep), making full use of their $50 million budget, the way he likes to work, shooting one of the film's funniest numbers, "Agony," and a lot more.

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If you’re not familiar with Into the Woods, the Disney production stars James Corden and Emily Blunt as a Baker and his wife who venture into the woods to confront the witch (Meryl Streep) responsible for putting a curse on the childless couple.  Along the way, they run into a number of familiar fairy tale characters including Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), her Prince (Chris Pine), Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy), and the Wolf (Johnny Depp).  The film also stars also stars Lucy Punch, Daniel Huttlestone, Tracey Ullman, and Christine Baranski.  For more on Into the Woods, here’s the trailer, some clips, Matt’s review, and all our previous coverage.

Rob Marshall:

  • 0:15 – How it feels to get positive reviews after working so hard on a movie.
  • 1:44 – The length of the first cut.
  • 2:55 – What he learned from test audiences and screening the film for family and friends, and having to cut an original song from the movie.
  • 4:55 – Explaining to Meryl Streep that the song had been cut.
  • 5:42 – Extras that will be on the Blu-ray.
  • 6:17 – Making full use of their $50 million budget.
  • 7:27 – The rehearsal process.
  • 8:21 – The importance of trusting one's instincts.
  • 9:54 – Challenges in editing the film.
  • 12:16 – How many takes he likes to do.
  • 13:22 – Who ruined the most takes by laughing.
  • 14:24 – Shooting one of the film's funniest numbers, "Agony".

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