Brooks told the Post's Chip Crews, "We've got Nathan [Lane]. We've got Matthew [Broderick]. We have got Will Ferrell to play Franz Liebkind. It's amazing. So we're expanding [the role of] the crazy Nazi. And we also have Nicole Kidman. She's playing Ulla." The Academy Award winner also added, "We're gonna try to break some rules in the movie, break some fourth-wall rules of reality, and just go crazy." In addition to Lane, Broderick, Ferrell and Kidman, Variety also recently reported that Roger Bart and Gary Beach will re-create their roles as, respectively, Carmen Ghia and Roger De Bris. Shooting for the motion picture — based on the musical, which itself is based on the 1968 film — is set to begin in February 2005. The movie musical is expected to hit cinemas at the end of that year.

The original 1968 "The Producers" film about a conniving producer starred Zero Mostel as producer Max Bialystock and Gene Wilder as Leo Bloom. Others in the cast included Kenneth Mars as Franz Liebkind, Renée Taylor as Eva Braun, Christopher Hewett as Roger De Bris, Lee Meredith as Ulla and Andréas Voutsinas as Carmen Giya. Mel Brooks won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay for "The Producers," and Gene Wilder was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

The Broadway production of The Producers plays the St. James Theatre, 246 West 44th Street.