Film Adaptation of Big River in Development from Chicken & Biscuits Playwright Douglas Lyons

Douglas Lyons, author of Broadway's Chicken & Biscuits, will be penning a film adaptation of the country-gospel musical Big River, per an exclusive Variety report. Based on Mark Twain's classic American novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Big River won seven 1985 Tony Awards including Best Musical. It was revived on Broadway in 2003 by Deaf West Theatre, earning a 2004 Tony nomination for Best Revival of a Musical.

“It is my deepest honor to adapt this beloved Broadway classic for the big screen,” Lyons said to Variety. “With its legendary score and moving tale, Big River invites us all to remember there’s more beauty in humanity than hate.” In additition to his 2021 Broadway playwriting debut with Chicken & Biscuits, Lyons has performed on Broadway in The Book of Mormon, Beautiful The Carole King Musical and the 2023 revival of Parade.  

Set in pre-Civil War Missouri, Big River follows the young Huck Finn and an enslaved man named Jim as they traverse the Mississippi River to bring Jim to freedom in the North. Lyons' screen adaptation will reimagine the story from both Huck and Jim's perspectives, contrary to its historical framing as solely Huck's story. 

The film is being developed in partnership with Big River's Tony-winning book writer William Hauptman, Mary Miller (widow of the musical's Tony-winning composer, Roger Miller) and the musical's original Broadway producer Rocco Landesman, along with Emily Baer and Jason Seagraves. Landesman is part owner of the Broadway production company Jujamcyn Theaters and served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts from August 2009 to December 2012.