Well, this immediately turns this into a big deal for Disney, and may finally get the film out of development and onto screens.
Since the release of “Pirates Of The Caribbean,” you’d better believe that Disney has been developing more films based on their theme park attractions, and that they’ve been trying to figure out the next one. With the news that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen may team up for a live-action “Jungle Cruise,” Disney can finally pull the trigger on this one.
There are still stumbling blocks ahead for the picture, not the least of which is finding a director, but I have a feeling that a cast like that means you’ll have a director signed on immediately. The script is currently in progress with Roger S.H. Schulman writing with David Hoberman and Todd LIeberman producing.
What a dream for Disney, eh? They get all the promotional power of teaming Buzz and Woody again, but with the hook that it’s in live-action, and they get to exploit another of their own pre-existing properties again in the process. The question, of course, is whether or not they can capture the sort of magic with this that they lucked into on the first “Pirates,” and the key is creating an iconic character to drop into the familiar setting of the ride. Or, in this case, two characters.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive clip from the new short film “Toy Story: Hawaiian Vacation” which will be in theaters this summer in front of “Cars 2.” Check it out here.
For now, Deadline has the barest of details on the film.
And as more info on “Jungle Cruise” becomes available, like story or setting or director, we’ll definitely cover it here at HitFix.