Disney has acquired the rights to make a film for the Tony-award-winning Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich will produce the film who also produced Disney’s 2019 live-action Aladdin. Ryan Halprin will also be an executive producer of the film.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is about a spelling bee at Putnam Valley Middle School where six unique adolescents compete in the Bee, run by three interesting grown-ups. The musical comedy is made by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss, music and lyrics by William Finn, and a book by Rachel Sheinkin.
The musical made its Broadway debut in 2005, ran for 1,136 performances, earned 6 Tony nominations, and won 2 of those nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
It is unknown at this time if the film is intended as a Disney+ or theatrical release, but we’ll keep you updated when more information becomes available.