<P> Early attempts of adapting Into the Woods to film occurred in the early 1990s, with a script written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel . A reading was held with a cast that included Robin Williams as The Baker, Goldie Hawn as The Baker's Wife, Cher as The Witch, Danny DeVito as The Giant, Steve Martin as The Wolf, and Roseanne Barr as Jack's Mother . By 1991, Columbia Pictures and Jim Henson Productions were also developing a film adaptation with Craig Zadan as producer and Rob Minkoff as director . In 1997, Columbia put the film into turnaround, with Minkoff still attached as director, and Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, and Susan Sarandon reportedly in talks to star . After the report by Variety, a film adaptation of Into the Woods remained inactive for 15 years . </P> <P> After the critical and commercial success of Chicago in 2002, director Rob Marshall approached Stephen Sondheim as he was interested in adapting one of his musicals such as Follies and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, although Sondheim suggested Into the Woods instead . Marshall concurred, but development of the project was then postponed while he focused on directing Memoirs of a Geisha and Nine . In 2011, Marshall's interest in the project was rekindled when he heard a speech by President Barack Obama on the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks to the families of the 9 / 11 victims, which seemed to evoke the same message as the musical's most important song, "No One Is Alone". Marshall firmly believed that Into the Woods was "a fairy tale for the post-9 / 11 generation". In January 2012, Marshall approached Walt Disney Pictures--for whom he had just directed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides--and pitched the idea to the studio, with Lapine writing the script and Sondheim "expected" to write new songs . Academy Award - winner Dion Beebe, who previously collaborated with Marshall on Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Nine, served as cinematographer . Sondheim confirmed that a new song had been written for the film . </P> <P> With Disney's backing, a three - day reading of the entire updated screenplay took place in New York in October 2012 under Marshall's direction, with Nina Arianda as the Baker's Wife, Victoria Clark as Cinderella's Mother / Granny / Giant, James Corden as the Baker, Donna Murphy as the Witch, Christine Baranski as Cinderella's Stepmother, Tammy Blanchard as Florinda, Ivan Hernandez as the Wolf, Megan Hilty as Lucinda, Cheyenne Jackson as Rapunzel's Prince, Allison Janney as Jack's Mother, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Michael McGrath as Steward / Mysterious Man, Laura Osnes as Rapunzel, Taylor Trensch as Jack, Casey Whyland as Little Red Riding Hood, and Patrick Wilson as Cinderella's Prince . It was this reading which ultimately convinced Walt Disney Studios president Sean Bailey to green - light the film despite ongoing concerns about the dark nature of the original musical (which Disney executives had begun to understand since Marshall's original pitch). However, Disney (which self - finances all its films) provided only a relatively small production budget of $50 million (relative to other feature - length fantasy films on its development slate), in turn forcing both cast and crew to accept pay cuts to work on the film . </P> <P> Reports subsequently surfaced in January 2013 that Meryl Streep had been cast to play the Witch . Streep had instituted a personal "no witch" rule after she turned 40 and was offered three witch roles, but ultimately broke her own rule to do a Sondheim role again . (As a young Yale University student, she had participated in the original production of Sondheim's The Frogs .) During the same month, it was reported that Janney had been confirmed to join the film as well . Five months later, however, Tracey Ullman was cast as Jack's Mother instead . </P>

Whos the main character in into the woods