Adam Shankman

Director to helm ’Bob the Musical’ for Disney

Adam Shankman is taking to the high notes and to the high seas for his next two helming projects.

The "Hairspray" director has signed on to helm "Bob the Musical" at Disney and "Sinbad" at Sony.

"Bob the Musical" centers on a mild-mannered man who suddenly hears the "inner song" of people’s hearts after being struck on the head.

Jennifer Gibgot, Shankman’s sister and partner in Disney-based Offspring Entertainment, will join Chris Bender, JC Spink, Tripp Vinson and Beau Flynn as producers. Shankman will exec produce.

Shankman is in final negotiations to direct and develop a take on classic epic adventure "Sinbad." The long-gestating project has attracted a number of helmers over the years, including John Singleton and Rob Cohen.

Story centers on Sinbad and his crew, who are marooned off the coast of China and embark on a quest to find the lamp of Aladdin. Shankman, who said it hasn’t been decided which project will move into production first, admitted that the two films "couldn’t be more different."

"Ever since ’Hairspray,’ I’ve been desperate to do another musical," Shankman told Daily Variety. "The idea of working with all original music is thrilling. With ’Bob the Musical,’ I’ll be working again with (’Hairspray’ composer) Marc Shaiman. And ’Sinbad’ gives me the opportunity to really stretch my imagination as far as I can take it."

Neal Moritz is producing via his Sony-based Original Film banner. Original’s Toby Jaffe is exec producing along with Shankman and Gibgot.

Shankman’s latest project is Disney’s Adam Sandler starrer "Bedtime Stories," which opens Christmas Day.

Shankman and Gibgot have a number of producing projects set up through their Offspring shingle including an untitled Miley Cyrus project at Disney based on a book by Nicholas Sparks.

Offspring also produced the upcoming "17 Again" at New Line and is producing "Step Up 3D" for Disney.