Disney: All the live-action remakes in development from Moana to Peter Pan & Wendy
Disney's mission to remake its beloved animated library continues
It's been over 10 years now since Disney doubled down on rebooting their classic animated films into live-action epics.
Ignoring the Glenn Close Dalmatians movies, the real guinea pig in the experiment was 2010's Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. The film ended up grossing over $1 billion which explains why Disney has released one of his live-action versions every year since 2014.
Some of the most storied tales in Disney's canon have received the reboot treatment. Sometimes, it's a straight retelling as it was with Cinderella or the reboot serves as an origin story as was the case with Cruella starring Emma Stone.
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While Disney's continued reboots has been met with criticism for their lack of creativity and often inferiority to the original, the movies have continued to be popular with audiences with Dwayne Johnson recently announcing that he will be starring in a live-action remake of Moana, just seven years afer the animated film was released.
Moana is just the latest in a large stack of live-action remakes Disney have ready to serve fans. Read on to find out about all the upcoming remakes.
Peter Pan & Wendy | 28 April, 2023
There's been no shortage of live-action Peter Pan adaptations with the most recent — Joe Wright's Pan — flopping at the box office in 2015 despite starring Hugh Jackman as Hook.
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Disney hopes to set things right by remaking its 1953 animation for a straight-to-Disney+ movie. Acclaimed filmmaker David Lowery (A Ghost Story/The Green Knight/Pete's Dragon) has been placed in charge here and Jude Law is playing Captain Hook so there's a good chance this is the time they hit the bullseye.
The Little Mermaid | 26 May, 2023
Rob Marshall's version of The Little Mermaid has a lot to do to match the beloved 1989 animated film. Singer Halle Bailey has been cast as Ariel while Melissa McCarthy will get her villain on as Ursula.
Read more: Everything we know about The Little Mermaid
The cast also includes Javier Bardem as King Triton and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric.
Snow White | 22 March, 2024
The jewel in Disney's vast crown, 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the company's first full-length animated feature and has largely been left alone by the corporation in the nearly 90 years since its release.
Coming in 2024, Snow White is finally getting the official Disney live-action treatment (Kristen Stewart's Hunstman movies were released by Universal) with filming having already wrapped. Rachel Zegler plays Snow White while Gal Gadot is the Wicked Witch.
With Greta Gerwig co-writing the script, there's hope Snow White can be done justice.
Mufasa: The Lion King | 5 July, 2024
After The Lion King was a huge success in 2019, Disney greenlit an origin story focussed on Simba's father. What's most interesting about the film is that it's being directed by Barry Jenkins, one of the finest filmmakers in the world.
British actor Aaron Pierre has been cast as the young Mufasa, while Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, and John Kani will reprise their roles as Pumbaa, Timon, and Rafiki.
Hercules | TBC
Guy Ritchie previously dipped his toe into Disney's live-action waters with his version of Aladdin and they're reteaming once again to give 1997's Hercules a modern update.
Read more: The Disney film that will never be on Disney+
Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo will produce the film for Disney through their AGBO banner, with Joe teasing that the remake will be “a little bit more experimental in tone, a little bit more experimental in execution,” and will be a musical.
Aladdin 2 | TBC
2019's Aladdin grossed over $1 billion at the box-office so it's only natural Disney would want to continue telling these stories.
Disney had ordered a script from the Oscar-nominated Andrea Berloff, and Will Smith had been linked with returning as Genie, but star Mena Massoud recently said the film is "unlikely" to happen.
Cruella 2 | TBC
Though Cruella was hit hard by Covid-19, the 101 Dalmatians spin-off film was warmly received, especially Emma Stone's performance as the notorious dog killer.
Stone has officially signed on for a sequel and Emma Thompson has said she is eager to return to her evil role as the Baroness.
Prince Anders | TBC
There was much controversy over the inclusion of the white Prince Anders in Aladdin given the film's Middle Eastern setting and was a character created especially for the movie. Played by Billy Magnussen, Anders is in line for his own movie which is being eyed for streaming on Disney+.
The Aristocats | TBC
A recent announcement by Disney said that Questlove will be making his feature film directing debut with a remake of 1970's The Aristocats which will be a hybrid of live-action and animation.
The Oscar-winner who is also the co-founder and drummer of hip-hop group The Roots will also be overseeing music on the film.
Lilo & Stitch | TBC
Disney recently cast unknown child star Maia Kealoha as Lilo, a girl who becomes best friends with an alien experiment, for the live action remake of the 2002 film. Comedian Zach Galifianakis has also been cast but it has not been announced what role he will play.
Read more: Everything we know about Frozen 3
Lilo & Stitch will be directed by Dean Fleischer Camp who was recently Oscar nominated for directing Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.
Moana | TBC
There's no stopping Dwayne Johnson. He starred in the animated smash that was Moana and now he's leading the cast of the live-action adaptation too.
Just seven years after the release of the widely popular film, Disney is reimagining the film with Johnson in need of a hit after a few recent flops.
Watch: Dwayne Johnson announces live action Moana