According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Pictures has successfully acquired the rights to the award-winning and popular Broadway musical The King and I which was the fifth musical created by acclaimed Broadway duo Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.
The studio has partnered up with Temple Hill to develop a brand new film adaptation of The King and I. Based on Margaret Landon’s 1944 novel titled Anna and the King of Siam, The King and I is set during the early 1860s in Siam (now known as Thailand) where it follows the story of a British schoolteacher named Anna Leonowens, who was hired by the Western-leaning king to become the governess of the royal children.
The new King and I adaptation will be produced by Marty Bowen & Wyck Godfrey’s Temple Hill along with Concord, who acquired Rodgers and Hammerstein’s catalog in 2017.
The Broadway musical first made its premiere in 1951 which went on to win major Tony Awards including Best Musical.