There’s How Many Live Action Disney Movies In Development?

The news that there’s going to be a gender swapped “Splash” remake from Disney Studios (Channing Tatum as the merman and Jillian Bell as the girl who is saved by a merman) got me to thinking – just how many Disney movies are in production?! You can likely thank Kenneth Branagh’s “Cinderella” (2015) and Jon Favreau’s “The Jungle Book”, which came out in April 2016, as the beginning of these live action adaptations of animated material.

These films will be coming out whether you like it or not.

“Beauty and the Beast”

Emma Watson (“Harry Potter” franchise) and Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey”, “The Visitor”) star in this live action adaptation of the 1991 animated film which was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. This take has Bill Condon (“Gods and Monsters”, “Chicago”, “Twilight”) in the director’s chair. I remain hopeful. Luke Evans is playing Gaston!

Check out the teaser trailer! Release Date: March 17, 2017

 
“Dumbo”

Yup, the 1941 animated film is getting the live action treatment with Tim Burton being courted to direct. The only other thing we really know is that the screenwriter is Ehren Kruger (“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”, “Reindeer Games”). Alas, I don’t remain very hopeful for this. I mean, when was the last time Tim Burton made a really ‘good’ movie? Hopefully this idea goes back on the shelves…permanently.
 

“Splash”

As mentioned above, this will star Channing Tatum and Jillian Bell (“22 Jump Street”, “Workaholics”). The 1984 original had Daryl Hannah as the mermaid who saved Tom Hanks’ character when they were children. The original was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards. Although this remake will unlikely garner any awards, it still looks like a fun, goofy take on the material. And since both were in “22 Jump Street”, I imagine the ‘tone’ will be similar (maybe I’m hoping).

I should note that the original “Splash” was the first Disney film (under the Touchstone Pictures banner) which aimed at a more mature audience. Touchstone serves as a brand for Walt Disney and not an actual business operation.

“Tinker Bell”

The popular fairy from the “Peter Pan” universe is looking to get her own live action film! Did you know that there’s been six Tinker Bell animated movies since 2008? In fact, Reese Witherspoon was announced late last year to play the titular character. There hasn’t been much released on this project but we do know that Witherspoon is set to also produce and the film is set to be called “Tink”.

Meh, I guess it could be worse. We could get a remake of “Hook”.

“Bangarang Rufio!!!”
 

“Cruella De Vil”

Yes, the fun villain from the “101 Dalmatians” films will be getting her own film a lot like Maleficent got her own film recently with Angelina Jolie. Anyways, the actress that is in early stages to take on a young version of De Vil is Emma Stone! Surprisingly, I think she’ll own the role. Stone is a supremely talented actress that we are just now seeing come into her own. Not much is known yet regarding script or directors.
 

“Maleficent 2”

The reluctant anti-hero of Maleficent returns! Well, in this newer iteration of the character that first became known as the evil queen in “Sleeping Beauty”. Angelina Jolie was also confirmed to reprise her role. The original screenwriter (Linda Woolverton) will return but no plot details or a release date has been set. The first film made over $200 million in the US alone. It shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise to have this sequel happen.
 

“Jungle Book 2”

The Favreau directed film (that was just released in April) has already been announced to get a sequel. The box office for the first film almost made $1 billion worldwide! That’s nuts! Don’t expect these live action remakes to go away any time soon! 
 “Mary Poppins” sequel

Emily Blunt is set to play the titular character in the Rob Marshall (“Chicago”, “Into the Woods”) directed musical movie (with Lin Manuel Miranda costarring). Actually, even the original stars – Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke (original Poppins and Bert) have been confirmed to appear in the film as well!

Release Date: Christmas 2018
 
 

The Jungle Book: Review

The Jungle Book has a new cinematic standard bearer. The 2016 Disney edition, directed by Jon Favreau, stars Bill Murray as Baloo, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Lupita Nyong’o as Raksha, Giancarlo Esposito as Akela, Christopher Walken as King Louie, Garry Shandling as Ikki the porcupine, and newcomer Neel Seethi as Mowgli. A cast like that sets a high expectation for acting excellence. Favreau’s 2016 remake of The Jungle Book matches that expectation easily.

The Jungle Book tells the well-known Rudyard Kipling tale of young Mowgli, a young orphan raised by wolves in the jungles of India. The wolves follow the law of the pack, and the animals have their own social order that includes rules about all species being allowed to drink from the watering hole peacefully. Generally, Mowgli is well accepted by the animals, as he learns their ways and tries to refrain from the tool making “tricks” of mankind. But Shere Khan, the tiger, is a menacing villain in favor of killing Mowgli due to his harrowing experience of having his face burned by a man. It’s because of Shere Khan that Mowgli sets off to find a man village. He encounters all kinds of diversions, adventure, and mayhem along the way. And in the end, he must face down his feline enemy.

When I first saw the trailers for the Jungle Book, I was optimistic but hesitant. The Jungle Book is a mixture of live action and cgi. I’m naturally wary of any movie that leans heavily on cgi, even though the movie looked promising. But I enjoyed The Jungle Book more than I ever thought I could. The cgi is incredibly well done, from the range of animals that they make to capturing the detailed look and natural movement of each animal. They clearly spent a lot of time carefully observing how the animals move. The end result is that even though you know the animals are computer generated, you can absorb yourself in the story because they’re so well animated that you can suspend disbelief and and get lost in the story.

But the real strength is in the acting. The murderer’s row of actors bring their best to the movie and imbue the animals with a vibrant personality that also fits the characters’ species. Baloo truly has the sense of humor of Bill Murray. Kaa is more seductive than she could ever be with Scarlett Johansson’s voice. Raksha is a perfect mother wolf. Shere Khan and King Louie are both menacing as can be. And Bagheera is a perfect mix of noble, snobby, and protective. Bill Murray and Christopher Walken even perform updated renditions of “The Bear Necessities” and “I Wanna Be Like You”, in homage to the 1967 Disney cartoon classic.

In short, The Jungle Book is a pure delight.  It surpassed all my expectations of what I thought was possible for the movie. The 1967 cartoon version of The Jungle Book, though classic, was barely in the top half of my favorite Disney movies. The 2016 version is already one of the best Disney movies ever made in my mind, and I highly recommend it to everyone who has any interest in the movie.

Grade: A

Live Action Jungle Book Remake Trailer Released

The first trailer for Disney’s live cgi-action remake of The Jungle Book (1967) has been released. Slated for 2016, the movie is directed by Jon Favreau, who’s known mostly for Elf and the Iron Man trilogy. The film looks gorgeous and very big in scope. The Jungle Book also features some big names doing the animal voices:

 

Baloo: Bill Murray

Shere Khan: Idris Elba

Kaa: Scarlett Johansson

Baheera: Ben Kingsley

King Louie: Christopher Walken

Akela: Giancarlo Esposito

Raksha: Lupita Nyong’o

Gray: Emjay Anthony

Mowgli: Neel Sethi

 

This is actually one of two Jungle Book movies to be released. The other Jungle Book movie is currently in production and called Jungle Book: Origins with Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) making his directorial debut. It will also star big name voice actors: Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Christian “You want me to trash your freakin’ lights” Bale. That film is set to drop in 2017.

Some outlets are calling the 2016 remake unnecessary. Well, I’m calling their hot takes unnecessary. I mean, yeah Hollywood overdoes it on the remakes. But really, we can’t give a classic story another take after nearly 50 years? The jungle jazz flute alone in the original movie just screams 1960s.

Let’s go over some pluses and minuses.

On the one hand, the original animated version does stand on its own as a classic. This is the only reason that people are saying the remake is unnecessary. That’s just lazy thinking. The original is also little kid friendly. Really little kids probably won’t be able to watch the remake because with realistic beasts, some of the scenes look scary. You should probably be at least 5 to watch the remake, whereas the original is something my toddler has been watching. And as with any movie, if the writing or acting sucks, so will the movie. That’s not a conclusion we can get out of the trailer.

The biggest hurdle facing the remake is the music. If the movie doesn’t feature enough of it, it may be a Disney flop. If the music isn’t good enough, the movie will probably stink.

Bill Murray is supposed to sing The Bare Necessities, so it’s got that going for it. Songs will also be written by Richard M. Sherman, who co-wrote songs from the original with his brother, Robert B. Sherman. And this is Disney, which has a knack for churning out catchy music like they invented it. So we’ll see. Those are at least some promising signs.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that this movie isn’t meant to blow the minds of jaded asshole adults. It’s for kids and their families. You and I were born much closer to 1967 than kids born more recently. You’re telling me after watching the trailer that The Jungle Book remake isn’t something the 8-year-old version of yourself thinks he or she would enjoy? Get out of here. Pop Culture Crunch Editor-in-Chief Nicholas “Nitro” Petersen agrees: “The live action Jungle Book movie trailer would give 8 year old me nightmares…in a good way.” Either you have no memory of being a kid, you’re lying, or as a kid you were lame.

At the very least, the trailer looks interesting. I love the voice actors they have lined up. Hopefully this remake will be one worth seeing. If not, chalk it up to another tiny hiccup from the massive Disney machine.

 

Disney is about to live in its Past….with live action remakes!!!

Today, the Hollywood Reporter reported that Disney would be developing a live action remake to the 1963 classic,  The Sword in the Stone. Brian Cogman (Game of Thrones) is set to write the script from Brigham Taylor, one of the producers of Pirates of the Caribbean. Let’s not forget that there’s going to be another King Arthur movie coming out soon as well — Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur (this is set to be a 6 film franchise with Guy Ritchie directing!). Personally, the best incarnation of King Arthur is Excalibur…hands down! You owe it to yourself to see that classic.

Just last week it was reported that there is going to be a live action Genies movie , an origins story based off of Aladdin that Disney hopes will become a franchise in its own right and eventually lead to a live action retelling of Aladdin.

Then there’s Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book (there is another Jungle Book movie being developed with Warner Bros. and Andy Serkis directing — The Jungle Book : Origins). What’s crazy is that both movies will have A-list casts. Favreau’s film will have Bill Murray, Idris Alba, Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johannson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Christopher Walken. Andy Serkis’ version (first time director) will have Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Naomie Harris,  and Benedict Cumberbatch attached. I don’t understand why both of these movies are going to be forced down audiences’ throats. I guess dueling at the box office (over the same stories) has yet to end.

That’s just the tip of what’s going to be coming from Disney! Here’s everything else that’s currently in the works.

Alice Through the Looking Glass (sequel to Alice in Wonderland) – May 2016
Beauty and the Beast – March 2017
Dumbo (being directed by Tim Burton) – 2017
Winnie the Pooh – TBD
Mulan – TBD
Pinnochio – TBD
Maleficent (yes, another one) – rumored
Tink (Tinkerbell from Peter Pan) – TBD – Reese Witherspoon recently announced to star as Tink.
Prince Charming (of Cinderella) – TBD

If you didn’t already know, Disney owns Marvel and Lucasfilm. It’s not like they should be hurting for money now or in the foreseeable future. I am concerned that Disney isn’t taking any chances on original ideas but then I’d be wrong in saying that. Actually, Disney has poured a LOT of money into getting more original material in theaters but sadly has failed pretty miserably in the category (see: Tomorrowland, John Carter, Mars Needs Moms, Treasure Planet, The Lone Ranger). So, what do they do to recoup? Rely on their tested and true material or…..just bank on for sure wins like Marvel movies, Pixar films and the anticipated release of those Star Wars movies.

Afterthought: If I had to make my dream live action version of a Disney animated film it would be Aladdin and involve these filmmakers:

Dream Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trance)
Dream Cinematographer: Wally Pfister (Inception)
Dream Writer: Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Rushmore)

Duplicity at the Movies : King Arthur & His Merry Men

Duplicity at the box office isn’t anything really new — see: Armageddon/Deep Impact, Dante’s Peak/Volcano, Olympus Has Fallen/White House Down. In the upcoming years we’ll see two movies of Robin Hood, two movies of the Jungle Book and two movies of King Arthur grace the screen.

Robin Hood

Sony is attempting to develop a Robin Hood movie that will set up a bigger, shared universe in the vein of The Avengers. Like, Robin Hood and his Merry Men and their adventures. Every studio is trying to follow Marvel’s global and continued success with their limitless amount of characters under the same universe, which keeps audiences coming back. Meanwhile, Disney is going to make their own version of Robin Hood and liken their take to “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

Thinking of my favorite Robin Hood movie isn’t that hard with “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” topping that list but on a more serious note, I did rather enjoy Kevin Costner’s “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”. There needs to be a modernized, serious take on Robin Hood that’s actually good. The Russell Crowe one in 2006 (Robin Hood) was a snooze fest! Director Ridley Scott’s original take was to focus on the Sheriff of Nottingham as the protagonist and Robin Hood the a**hole but studio execs deemed it too risky and off key for audiences. They couldn’t be more wrong!

Jungle Book

Andy Serkis is directing his take on the Jungle Book called “Jungle Book: Origins” from Warner Bros. and is expected to bow in theaters in 2017 whereas Jon Favreau releases his movie, “The Jungle Book” from Disney on October 9, 2015. Both movies feature an all star cast.

Outside of the “Jungle Book” cartoon, I did see the live action take that was made in 1994, “The Jungle Book”, that starred Jason Scott Lee (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story), Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), and Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride, Robin Hood: Men in Tights). In this version Mowgli is all grown up and is kind of forced to fit in with the rest of society as he speaks to other animals including monkeys that inhabit a lost city and fights a giant snake. Ok, so it wasn’t a great movie but as a kid it was awesome! It still has a charm to it. Ya know, when you think back on a movie you loved as a kid and then watching it as an adult makes you wonder what the heck you were thinking in the first place?!

King Arthur

This week it was announced that the director of the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jonathan Liebesman, is set to develop a King Arthur tale that has an Unforgiven like take on the source material. It supposedly follows “an older Sir Lancelot as he sets out to make amends after his love for Guinevere ends up destroying Camelot”(Collider). This movie joins the other King Arthur movie in developed titled “Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur”, which is also being prepped for a shared movie universe. Rumors have the project eyeing a total of six sequels. “Knights of the Round Table” is being directed by Guy Ritchie and has Charlie Hunnam as King Arthur and Jude Law as the films villain, Vortigern.

If you haven’t seen the very excellent movie, “Excalibur” (1981), by now I highly suggest you check it out. The dude that played Merlin (Nicol Williamson) in the movie owned every scene. Who the hell are they gonna cast as Merlin?! That’s what I wanna know. I hope they don’t leave him out. What about that epic horse riding scene with the classic music in the background?! Hell yes.

Duplicity at the movies may be seen as tiresome to some viewers but the audience reaps the benefits as competition forces filmmakers and studios to out do each other with star power, unique takes on stories, and bigger budgets. Bring it on!