With the success of Disney’s live-action adaptations of it’s classic films, it’s no shock that they announced on Monday that there will be a grand total of 9 films in development. To top off the success of Alice in Wonderland (2010), Maleficent (2014), Cinderella (2015) and this year’s The Jungle Book, which has earned $533 million at the global box office, Disney has finally given us an idea of what to expect from them in the live-action department in the future.
The list of upcoming live-action films is quite long, with the release of new films starting next month with Alice Through the Looking Glass on May 27th. It continues with Pete’s Dragon hitting theaters on August 12th and then Beauty and the Beast being released on March 17, 2017. Two of which are fairy tales, one a sequel and one just a simple remake. But Disney isn’t stopping there, with five new release dates selected in the next three years: July 28, 2017; Apr. 6, 2018; Aug. 3, 2018; Dec. 25, 2018; and Dec. 20, 2019. That’s a lot of Disney movies coming in the next couple of years! They also claimed two other dates for two untitled fairy tale films: Nov. 2, 2018 and Nov. 8, 2019.
I think we’re going to have our fill of fairy tales and live-action remakes by the time this is all said and done. But these new dates are just for projects that are in development. So no matter how much we pray and hope that the film will be made, it’s still up in the air on whether or not they will leave the development stage.
Now to the list of films that are in development to claim those dates. The projects on deck include Cruella, with Kelly Marcel penning the script and Emma Stone set to star as the villainess herself; Dumbo, Tim Burton’s next Disney live-action film with Ehren Kruger writing the script (how this is going to turn out will be interesting); Maleficent 2, following the success of the first film this one is set to once again star Angelina Jolie with Linda Woolverton writing the script; A Wrinkle in Time, with Ava DuVernay directing; Jungle Cruise, Disney’s next attempt at making a film based on one of their classic theme park rides, it’s set to star Dwayne Johnson with John Requa and Glenn Ficarra writing. The list continues with the Mary Poppins sequel which has Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda as it’s stars and Rob Marshall directing; The Nutcraker and the Four Realms, with Lasse Hallstrom directing; The Jungle Book 2 (because the first one has been such a success) with Jon Favreau once again directing. Finally there is a live-action Tinker Bell project with Reese Witherspoon as it’s star.
These films will get their exact release dates in the coming months if they make it past development, which will be the test. Of all of them, there are a few that peek our interest, but not all of them feel as if they should be made into live-action films. Like Dumbo, should that really be a live-action film? Of course we’ll have to wait and see what happens, especially since Tim Burton is such a talented and slightly whacky director. One film we want to see made, is a better film version of the classic ride The Haunted Mansion. A comedy film of the ride was made, but it wasn’t all that grand. To see one with a little bit more spooks and scares, rather than humor would be brilliant.
Which of these projects are you most excited to see? Share with us in the comments on our social media pages!
Photo Credit: Walt Disney Studios
