Monday, November 15, 2010

Jon Favreau Looks To Direct Disney’s ‘Magic Kingdom’

Iron Man director Jon Favreau Disney Magic Kingdom movie

Actor/writer/director Jon Favreau has been at the helm of movies about elves, magical board games, men in robot suits, and a wild west battle that involves extraterrestrials. So is a film about Disney’s classic Magic Kingdom attraction the logical next step?

We’re not sure if there’s a proper answer to that question, but Favreau is reportedly in talks with Disney to direct their Magic Kingdom movie, which was originally scripted by Battlestar: Galactica‘s Ron Moore but is being rewritten under the Iron Man filmmaker’s supervision.

Deadline says that the plan is for work on Magic Kingdom to commence while Favreau completes post-production work on Cowboys and Aliens. It’s not yet clear where Iron Man 3 – which, presumably, Favreau is all but a lock to direct – fits into the schedule, but that threequel is not slated to hit theaters until 2013, so Disney might have a 2012 release date in mind for Magic Kingdom. The Mouse House owns Marvel and acquired the distribution rights for Tony Stark’s third outing a while ago, so it has a fair amount control over Favreau’s production schedule right now.

Favreau has a good deal of experience handling big-budget, FX-heavy flicks by now and his resume as a director includes the family-friendly fantasy adventure Zathura: A Space Adventure (a.k.a. Jumanji in outer space) and Will Ferrell’s holiday comedy, Elf. Odd as it may seem, the man is an ideal candidate to take on the challenge of turning the Magic Kingdom into a full-blown moviegoing experience.

Jon Favreau Zathura: A Space Adventure movie image Favreau's 'Zathura' starred a pre-'Twilight' Kristen Stewart.

Disney also has a Haunted Mansion film adaptation in the works, as well as a Tiki movie (which the company claims is NOT based on the Enchanted Tiki Room, but there’s good reason to doubt that claim). We’ve also heard rumblings about a Jungle Cruise movie being in the works and wouldn’t be surprised if Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain look to make the jump to the big screen in the future as well.

The immense financial success of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is in no small part to blame for these other ride-inspired projects; however, the company has always loved a movie with instant marketing tie-ins, so the finger of blame can’t be pointed solely at the adventures of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow (besides, we still love that guy).

magic kingdom movie to be directed by Jon Favreau Coming soon to a theater near you.

We expect Disney will aim to release Magic Kingdom sometime in 2012. Do you think the project has potential?

Source: Deadline


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