Disney is moving full-speed ahead with itsThe Lion Kingremake, and just a couple weeks afterfirst announcing the filmwithJon Favreaudirecting, the Mouse House has hired a veteran screenwriter to handle the script. PerTHR,Jeff Nathansonwill be penning the screenplay for the film, bringing the frequentSteven Spielbergcollaborator into the fold. Nathanson’s credits includeCatch Me If You Can,The Terminal, andIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as well as the final twoRush Hourmovies. He’s certainly got a knack for quick-moving plot, but his hiring likely has a lot to do with the fact that he just wrotePirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Talesfor Disney, which opens in theaters next year.
The plan forThe Lion Kingis not to make a live-action film, but one thatlookslive-action. The movie will build on the technology and aesthetic that Favreau established withThe Jungle Book, which used a single live-action actor and minimal real elements and filled the rest in with stunning visual effects. The result was incredibly lifelike animals and, in retrospect, a proof-of-concept for a newLion Kingmovie, not to mention a worldwide box office gross of $966.2 million.
The film is being fast-tracked so this is Favreau’s next project, and one imagines he’s already hard at work developing how the movie’s going to look while collaborating with Nathanson on the screenplay. In the meantime, Disney is readying to release directorBill Condon’s live-actionBeauty and the Beastnext March, withMulannow on the fast-track andAladdinrecently scoringSherlock HolmesfilmmakerGuy Ritchieto direct. All of this in addition to theotherlive-action redos Disney is developing, as well as Marvel andStar Wars, is further proof that they’ll run the world before the decade is out.
