Peter S. Beagle has recently regained the rights to his works, and it looks like one of his most well-known stories, The Last Unicorn, will be getting both live-action feature and stage musical adaptations.
The news came from Beagleverse (via CBR), the author’s new company which is run by Lauren Sands and Michael Heard in partnership with Beagle. According to the site’s FAQ page, a live-action feature film produced by Beagleverse is “in the works” along with a “stage musical with Fergie.”
If these two adaptations come to pass (and let’s hope they do!), they would join the beloved 1982 animated feature adaptation (pictured above), which featured a stellar cast including Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow, and Angela Lansbury. All of them, of course, would be based on Beagle’s 1968 novel, The Last Unicorn, which centers on a young unicorn who fears she may be the last of her kind.
We don’t have any additional information about these two projects so far, but it’s fun to dream and speculate about what could come to pass. Will the live-action feature closely emulate the animated version? Who will play the Unicorn? Prince Lir? Schmendrick? For the stage musical, what kind of tunes will Fergie crank out?
So many questions! No matter how things turn out, however, it’s great to see that Beagle is doing well and involved in projects about his works. Here’s to hoping we’ll get more details on both of these adaptations soon.
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The Last Unicorn
