While promoting their upcoming film adaptation of the children's book "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile," Will Speck and Josh Gordon sat down with Collider and revealed that they're working on adapting "The Oregon Trail" into a flick. And not just any ordinary movie, but a musical. So at some point, we'll be watching a musical based on "The Oregon Trail" game. That's probably not something you ever expected to read.
It seems the idea came from songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Pasek and Paul), whose credits include "La La Land," "The Greatest Showman," and the play and film versions of "Dear Evan Hansen." The songwriting team is currently working with Speck and Gordon, writing songs for "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile."
Accordingly, Pasek and Paul are fans of the original game and pitched the idea to the directing duo. "They've both been very obsessed with Oregon Trail," Speck explained. "We were talking about what we could cook up next, because we really want to do another musical. They mentioned that, and we now have the rights to it, and we're putting it together alongside them and some other exciting people."
With the film in active development, Speck and Gordon will be working alongside Pasek and Paul and the original rights holders, which Speck and Gordon have made producing partners on the project. Currently, the team is looking for a screenwriter before actively searching for a studio. "We want to find a home for it where we know it'll get made in the right way," Gordon said. "That was a little bit what we did on this project, which was really got the rights, developed, and then found our studio partner. We're finding that to be a really effective creative approach."
