'Enchanted' Director Takes on DreamWorks Animation's 'Monkeys of Mumbai' (Exclusive)

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Kevin Lima, who directed Disney’s animated Tarzan before transitioning to the live-action hits 102 Dalmations and Enchanted, is returning to his roots. Lima has signed on to helm DreamWorks Animation’s Monkeys of Mumbai, which is assembling a highly pedigreed creative team.

Also boarding the project as producers are Lisa Stewart (Monsters vs. Aliens) and Chris Chase (Enchanted). Mumbai (working title), the company’s first Bollywood-style animated musical adventure, is a riff on the great Indian epic called the Ramayana, which centers around a man whose wife is kidnapped by a demon king.

The WME-repped Lima will approach the story through the point of view of two common monkeys who become unlikely heroes.

Gurinder Chadha and Paul Berges, who penned Bride & Prejudice and Bend It Like Beckham, are writing the script. Stephen Schwartz, who penned the music and lyrics for Broadway’s Wicked, is working on lyrics while A.R. Rahman, who scored Slumdog Millionaire, is Mumbai’s composer.

“Ever since Enchanted, I’ve been looking for a film musical,” Lima tells THR. “When DreamWorks Animation approached me with the prospect of doing a Bollywood musical with such renowned collaborators, I knew this was the one.”

Email: Borys.Kit@thr.com
Twitter: @Borys_Kit