BIG RIVER Film Adaptation in the Works By CHICKEN & BISCUITS Writer Douglas Lyons

Douglas Lyons, who wrote the 2021 Broadway play Chicken and Biscuits, is adapting Big River into a movie musical.

Variety reports that the film is currently being developed by the musical's original producer, Rocco Landesman, along with Emily Baer, Mary Miller, and William Hauptman.

“It is my deepest honor to adapt this beloved Broadway classic for the big screen,” Lyons shared. “With its legendary score and moving tale, ‘Big River’ invites us all to remember there’s more beauty in humanity than hate.”

Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn first opened on Broadway in 1985, winning seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. A revival opened in 2003 with a special ASL production.

This tale of adventure and self-discovery begins on a raft on the Mississippi River in the 1840s, where Huck, escaping from his drunken father, meets up with Jim, a runaway slave. The story of their journey downstream is an American classic that captures the rhythms, sounds and spirit of life on the big river.

The musical numbers include "Do You Want to Go To Heaven," "Waiting for the Light To Shine," "Hand for the Hog," "Muddy Water," "When the Sun Goes Down in the South" and "Worlds Apart."