This past weekend, all eyes of the cinema world turned
towards the Mouse House, as Disney rolled out their impressive lineup of
upcoming films and projects at their biennial exposition event known as D23. Disney
wowed audiences and dominated social media for the weekend as they revealed
footage from their upcoming Marvel super-flicks DR. STRANGE and CAPTAIN
AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, along with news and tidbits from their upcoming Pixar slate
which includes this year’s THE GOOD DINOSAUR, along with FINDING DORY, TOY
STORY 4, COCO, CARS 3, and THE INCREDIBLES II. Other cake-toppers included news
from the fifth entry in the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise, along with
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS and the
formal announcement of a STAR WARS theme park headed for Disneyland and
Disneyworld.
Even with such a flood of material to swim through, the most
interesting news out of the expo concerned two of Disney’s prime properties;
one of which is new to the company, the other an oldie but a goodie…
JUNGLE BOOK
Footage was shown of Disney’s new live-action version of the
Rudyard Kipling classic. This take, which is said to be a blending of the book
and the 1967 animated version, stars the voice talents of Bill Murray (as Baloo
the Bear), along with Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Christopher
Walken, and Lupita Nyong’o (12 YEARS A SLAVE). The film will be taking
advantage of the photo-realistic technology pioneered by James Cameron for
AVATAR, and is slated for a 2016 release.
This new version is being directed by Jon Favreau, whose
directing credits have ranged from excellent (IRON MAN, CHEF), to just-ok (ELF)
to ho-hum (COWBOYS AND ALIENS). Favreau is in good hands with Disney, who
should have a very good grasp on the material by now after over 40 years of
films, books, and TV adventures. The usage of the AVATAR tech promises an
eye-popper, and Bill Murray as the Bear is a nice touch.
STAR WARS
No matter what Disney does these days, the conversation will
always come back to their newly acquired mega-franchise, perhaps the biggest of
them all…STAR WARS. The first big announcement concerning that beloved far, far
away galaxy is that director Colin Trevorrow is set to direct STAR WARS EPISODE
IX, which is set for a 2019 release. Trevorrow’s most recent directing credit
is this year’s box office monster JURASSIC WORLD; which as of this weekend is
the third highest-grossing film of all time in the both North American and the
world…as well as the highest-grossing film of the 2010’s.
Trevorrow’s success in JURASSIC WORLD cannot be measured on
the box office numbers alone, no matter how impressive they are. The film was
good but didn’t present much new, but that really isn’t Trevorrow’s fault;
after all, when humans and dinosaurs get together there’s only one thing can
happen. But JURASSIC WORLD, for as redundant as it was, was a great deal of fun
with a lot of energy; by far it was never boring to watch…and that is an
essential element to making a STAR WARS film.
STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE
The last bit of STAR WARS news concerns the first
stand-alone film, sub-titled ROGUE ONE. The film, which takes place before the
events of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, is set for a 2016 release. The news
revolved around the announcement of the full-cast, which includes Felicity
Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Forest Whitaker, Alan Tudyk, and
Forest Whitaker. A cast-photo was released:
Observant fans may recognize those stone walls. The film is
said to set up the events in EPISODE IV; specifically, the stealing of the
Death Star plans. It is in essence a prequel, and this is the type of
storytelling which tends to be met with a collective groan from certain
factions of fans. An argument can be made there’s no fun in the telling of a
story in which the ending is already known, but a better argument can be made
that it is the journey that counts over the destination.
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Learn more about Disney’s D23 here
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