Emily Blunt lands female lead in Rob Marshall's 'Into the Woods'

There's no question Rob Marshall (Chicago, Nine, Memoirs of a Geisha) knows his way around adapting Broadway musicals for the big screen, but to be honest his casting for Into the Woods has been remarkably free of....well, vocalists. Or at the very least, we've never heard the majority of the cast really bust out their pipes in a feature film, with Johnny Depp probably having the most experience thanks to Sweeney Todd. Now Marshall is adding one more to the cast who will be proving for the first time that she can carry a tune.

Emily Blunt is in talks for the female lead in the adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's fairy tale musical, taking the role of the Baker's wife. She and the Baker make up a childless couple who encounter a number of famous storybook characters while venturing into the woods to confront the evil witch that cursed them. James Corden will play her husband, while Meryl Streep will vamp it up as the witch, and Depp plays a sexy version of a fairy tale wolf. Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Pine recently came aboard as the two arrogant Princes, joined by stage veteran Christine Baranski as Cinderella's wicked stepmother.

Production begins this fall on what is looking to be a major film for 2014. [Variety]