<P> After several unsuccessful attempts by other studios and producers to adapt the musical to film, Disney announced in 2012 that it was producing an adaptation, with Marshall directing and John DeLuca serving as producer . Principal photography commenced in September 2013, and took place entirely in the United Kingdom, including at Shepperton Studios in London . </P> <P> Into the Woods held its world premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on December 8, 2014, and was released theatrically in the United States on December 25, 2014 . The film was commercially successful and received generally positive reviews, receiving praise for its acting performances and production merits, but received criticism for its lighter tone compared to the source material and the changes made for the film translation . It grossed $213 million worldwide . Into the Woods received three Academy Award nominations at the 87th Academy Awards, including a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Streep, as well as three Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture--Musical or Comedy . </P> <P> A baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) wish for a child but suffer under a curse laid upon the baker's family by a Witch (Meryl Streep) who found the baker's father robbing her garden when his mother was pregnant . Because the baker's father also stole some magic beans, the witch was punished with the curse of ugliness by her own mother . The witch offers to lift the curse but only if the baker and his wife obtain four critical items for her to make a potion: a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, a strand of hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold . The witch later tells the baker that she asked him to do this task for her because she is not allowed to touch any of the objects . </P> <P> The witch's demands eventually bring the baker and his wife into contact with Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), who is selling his beloved cow, Milky - White, and to whom the baker offers magic beans left him by his father (which were stolen from the witch) which grow into a large beanstalk; with Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), whose blood - red cape the couple noticed when she stopped by the bakery earlier to buy bread and sweets on her way to grandmother's house; with blonde - haired Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy), whose tower the baker's wife passes in the woods; and with Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), who also runs into the baker's wife while fleeing from the pursuing prince (Chris Pine) and whose ball outfit includes gold slippers . </P>

Who plays the baker in into the woods