Wednesday, January 31, 2018

The Upcoming Disney Live-Action Remakes of Animated Classics

bho January 31, 2018 0 Comments

The upcoming Disney live-action remakes of animated classics

Disney has been killing it in general with movies lately. Between The Last Jedi for Star Wars and the entire MCU leading up to Infinity War, they’ve got a lot going on. In particular though, their live-action adaptions of classics like Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Pete’s Dragon, and especially the billion dollar hit Beauty and the Beast have been extremely popular. As a result, we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the future. In order to help you keep track of what’s on its way, here’s a list of what you can expect to be coming to theaters at some point:

One of the first live-action remakes to be announced, Dumbo will be using high tech computer graphics to bring the title character and his animal friends to life alongside live-action stars Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, and others. The animals in The Jungle Book looked pretty good and the technology is only improving, so this one should be a visual treat. The Tim Burton-directed film is coming to theaters on March 29, 2019.

Aladdin has finished production and is also on its way in leu of the apparently-scrapped Genie spinoff. Fans of the character don’t need to worry though, because Will Smith has been cast as the famously fun blue wish granter in the May 24, 2019 release. In addition, the cast has apparently been carefully selected as to be racially accurate, (not just a bunch of white people) and so it will also include the likes of Mena Massoud as Aladdin, and Naomi Scott as Jasmine. Similarly, Mulan is getting a live-action adaption that will also be focused on accurate casting, with Chinese actress Yifei Liu playing Mulan.

While The Jungle Book 2 is being made, a The Lion King live-action adaption is being created as well. The Jon Favreau film, scheduled for July 19, 2019, will stars Donald Glover, James Earl Jones, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, John Oliver, Alfre Woodard, Beyonce Knowles, Chiwetel Ejiofor, JD McCrary, Shahadi Wright Joseph, John Kani, Florence Kasumba, Eric Andre, and Keegan-Michael Key.

Christopher Robin (opening August 3, 2018) is something of an oddity on this list, because rather than being a straight-up remake, it instead appears to be taking a similar angle to the Robin Williams movie Hook. Christopher Robin will be a grown up businessman living a normal life until Winnie the Pooh finds him in need of help, throwing his life into talking animal-based chaos. This should be interesting, since there’s so many directions the concept could be taken. Ewan McGregor and Hayley Atwell star.

Sticking with the alternate perspective angle angle that made Maleficent so interesting, Prince Charming will be a film about the titular prince’s lesser known brother? It seems he’s not quite as charming as his name and his sibling would suggest, which should make for a quirky watch, especially since Stephen Chbosky of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Wonder fame will be on board as director here.

Pinocchio and James and the Giant Peach are both happening, though not much is known about them thus far. Oliver Twist is getting an adaption too, titled Oliver!. Much like the previous couple, not much is known about them, but one detail sticks out — Ice Cube is attached to the project, and it has been said that a hip-hop twist is going to be added to, well, Twist.

The next couple of movies are alternate takes on old movies. Cruella will be a movie about the 101 Dalmations villainess and it will have Emma Stone as its star actress, whereas Tink will be about Peter Pan’s fairy friend and Reese Witherspoon will be holding down the main role. Fittingly, a Peter Pan live-action movie is also being made, but it is unknown if that will connect to Tink at all.

Finally, The Sword in the Stone and The Little Mermaid are both set to get live-action adaptions. Both will obviously be magical fantasies brought to life, but both are a ways off from completion at the moment. So is the live-action adaption of the movie based on that big, evil winged guy from Fantasia, which is apparently a thing.

Point is, no matter which parts of Disney you’re a fan of, you’ve got something to look forward to because they’ve got you covered.