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September 24, 2008
Disney Event '08
Nobody does these events better… or as big.
Disney did one of their, generally, once-every-three-years events covering the breadth and scope of their film product. Bread and circuses. Heavy presence of international partners. The big show.
Effectively hosted by Dick Cook, the massive crowd at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood were treated to musical performances by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the USC Marching Band, a live horse, Miley Cyrus, and Dr. John. There were movie star appearances by Travolta, Bullock, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, William H Macy, Nic Cage, the leads of High School Musical 3, The Rock, Isla Fisher, Jim Carrey, Miley Cyrus, George Lopez, and…
Johnny Depp.
Today, it was announced at this event that he would be the Mat Hatter (no real surprise there) in Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland (great conceptual art shown), that he would take on the role of The Lone Ranger for Jerry Bruckheimer, and that there will be a Pirates 4. (Depp appeared at the very end of the event in his fill Captain Jack outfit, along with a mask and a six-shooter, saying not one word.)
Also, Oprah joins the cast of The Princess & The Frog as the lead character’s mother.
Another big announcement from Bruckheimer was Nic Cage in a live-action version of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice set in modern New York with Cage as The Sorcerer.
Also, Toy Story 3 will be out a year earlier than originally announced.
There was also some footage from Tron 2 (or Tr2n) with Jeff Bridges that should get the geeks very excited.
The company had a multi-room display of the concept art from next November’s A Christmas Carol, being done in motion capture by director Bob Zemeckis, with Jim Carrey playing eight roles, including five versions of Scrooge. One room was a motion capture room, complete with cameras everywhere are two working capture rigs you could look at.
We watched Bolt in 3-D in its entirety (about 90% complete).
More later….
Posted by dpoland at September 24, 2008 04:59 PM
Comments
Fess up, I'm not the only one who read that "..a live horse & Miley Cyrus..."
Posted by: RoyBatty
at September 24, 2008 05:34 PM
Can someone tell Disney that Tr2n wants to be pronounced Tartan or Tarzan or anything but Tron Two?
Strictly speaking, of course, it should be Twon.
And now I'm salivating for Black Hole 2: Maximilian's Revenge.
Posted by: Mgmax
at September 24, 2008 05:45 PM
Are you sure it was really Depp and not just the guy who dresses up like him at Disneyland (or the guy from right outside on Hollywood Blvd.)?
Also, re: a Jerry Bruckheimer live-action Sorcerer's Apprentice set in New York starring Nicolas Cage - kill me now.
Posted by: jeffmcm
at September 24, 2008 06:04 PM
But Jeff, then something much worse will come along, and you'll have already squandered your demise on this. Don't do it!
Posted by: Blackcloud
at September 24, 2008 06:29 PM
David, was there no mention of Disney BD Live?
Posted by: Aris P
at September 24, 2008 06:31 PM
Three things:
Johnny Depp is going to make a phenomenal amount of money in the coming years.
Secondly, is the Tr2n footage that was shown the same proof-of-concept stuff that was shown at Comic-con?
Finally, AICN is reporting that Depp will be Tonto, and not the Lone Ranger.
Posted by: mysteryperfecta
at September 24, 2008 07:08 PM
Pirates 4? So is it going to be 6 hours long and have lots of pointless fighting?
I think it might be too soon for a Tron 2.
Would be nice to see another try at the Lone Ranger, much as I wanted to like the Clinton Spilsbury picture, it just didn't really work.
Posted by: doug r
at September 24, 2008 07:31 PM
Well, there goes what little credibility Depp had left.
Posted by: lazarus
at September 24, 2008 08:23 PM
"Finally, AICN is reporting that Depp will be Tonto, and not the Lone Ranger."
Great, so he can trash both The Lone Ranger and my lingering affection for Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man at the same time.
Posted by: Mgmax
at September 24, 2008 08:35 PM
Actually -- for what it's worth -- Depp is part Native American (Cherokee maternal grandfather), so Tonto might not be such a reach.
Posted by: Joe Leydon
at September 24, 2008 09:03 PM
Why do I have a hard time believing Johnny Depp's people would allow him to play second fiddle? Who's playing Lone Ranger, Mike Myers or Adam Sandler? Eisner's not still pulling any strings, is he? Seems like one of his golden ploys to chase money already on the table? "Hmmm, Dark Knight made a lot of money...is there any kind of comic book we can exploit who won't tell us to go f- ourselves? Hmm, dark knight wore black, had a mask, worked alone...I know, the Lone Ranger has black mask just like Batman! How soon can we blow this into production?!"
Either that or it'll look like a Zorro knockoff, which swap out Catherine Zeta for Kiera Knightly, switch a burning barn to a burning ship and you've got the same movie.
Hey was there any mention of a live action version of Snow White and the Seven dwarfs? Possibly reconfigured?
Posted by: Triple Option
at September 24, 2008 10:06 PM
No mention of BD Live.
My thinking is that they are planning on launching for real when they Blu-ray many more of the disney classics next year.
But the exit gift was the Blu-ray of Sleeping Beauty, whose box promised all the features I wrote about a couple of months ago. I will try them soon.
Interesting report about Depp. When I asked, there was no clarity from Disney. But he did hand Dick Cook the mask and gun... but then took back the gun... we'll see.
Posted by: David Poland
at September 24, 2008 10:31 PM
Depp was also wearing a feather in his hair, which made the announcement ambiguous.
Posted by: Wrecktum
at September 24, 2008 10:44 PM
that brings to mind 'the brave'...depp plays the down-on-his-luck native american who agrees to be in a snuff film for a price, so that his death will free his family from extreme poverty; i remember it being very grim and rather bizarre, i think brando's in it as well (might make for an interesting 'depp double feature dvd set' paired with 'dead man')
i think depp would make a terrific tonto
Posted by: leahnz
at September 24, 2008 11:31 PM
"and that there will be a Pirates 4."
Why do they make a big deal out of movies being trilogies only to take on a fourth film when it is unnecessary. Ugh.
The Tr2n thing makes no sense, considering the letter O and the number 2 look nothing alike except for the curve at the top. I hate spelling movies titles like "thr3e" for "4our" but, like Se7en it just looks silly when the number replacing a letter is just superfluous.
"We watched Bolt in 3-D in its entirety (about 90% complete)."
Does nobody else find that line hilarious?
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0
at September 25, 2008 02:21 AM
How fucking depressing!
A 4th "Pirates" and 3rd "Nat'l Treasure;" Depp donning Indian drag to play Tonto; Cage whoring himself out for yet another Bruckheimer CGI orgy. Crap, crap, crap.
And can someone please explain to me why nobody has purchased the rights to Chelsea Cain's "Heartsick" yet? It's the best serial killer thriller since Thomas Harris lost his mind (sometime after writing "Silence of the Lambs," I suspect), and would make a "Lambs"/"Mahunter"/"Se7en"-worthy thriller with the right casting (Jon Hamm; Lauren Ambrose; Gretchen Moll?) and director (Joe Carnahan?).
P.S.= Does anyone know the status of "The Abstinence Teacher"?
The last I heard it was being directed by Dayton/Feris and Perrotta was penning his own adaptation. Or did it all fall apart when Warner Independent went belly-up?
Casting suggestion(s)?
Aaron Eckhart and Toni Colette.
Posted by: movieman
at September 25, 2008 08:39 AM
How fucking depressing!
A 4th "Pirates" and 3rd "Nat'l Treasure;" Depp donning Indian drag to play Tonto; Cage whoring himself out for yet another Bruckheimer CGI orgy. Crap, crap, crap.
And can someone please explain to me why nobody has purchased the rights to Chelsea Cain's "Heartsick" yet? It's the best serial killer thriller since Thomas Harris lost his mind (sometime after writing "Silence of the Lambs," I suspect), and would make a "Lambs"/"Mahunter"/"Se7en"-worthy thriller with the right casting (Jon Hamm; Lauren Ambrose; Gretchen Moll?) and director (Joe Carnahan?).
P.S.= Does anyone know the status of "The Abstinence Teacher"?
The last I heard it was being directed by Dayton/Feris and Perrotta was penning his own adaptation. Or did it all fall apart when Warner Independent went belly-up?
Casting suggestion(s)?
Aaron Eckhart and Toni Colette.
Posted by: movieman
at September 25, 2008 08:49 AM
"Heartsick" is an entertaining airplane read, but there's no way for it to be perceived as anything other than a "Silence of the Lambs" knock-off and I can't imagine anything in it that would attract a director of the caliber of Fincher or Mann. (Aja? Maybe.)
Posted by: chris
at September 25, 2008 09:27 AM
"And can someone please explain to me why nobody has purchased the rights to Chelsea Cain's 'Heartsick' yet?"
You're assuming most studio execs read books.
Posted by: Cadavra
at September 25, 2008 11:20 AM
'Would be nice to see another try at the Lone Ranger, much as I wanted to like the Clinton Spilsbury picture, it just didn't really work.'
I do remember that it had a great scene in the end where a floating box of dynamite blew the doors off a fort and the calvery came riding in to the rescue but otherwise it was boring even to my easily impressed 8 year old self.
And the Sorcerer's Apprentice would be what, a Night at the Museum clone where some hapless dork battles the household appliances in a penthouse that he accidently brought to life?
And did they mention if they are asking Bloom and Keira to return to pirates as well or are they taking this chance to start a whole new storyline?
Posted by: hcat
at September 25, 2008 11:58 AM
how is bolt? i'm curious?
Posted by: seanwithaw
at September 25, 2008 12:03 PM
The slate looks ok...but I still think Disney's days as a major are near an end...voluntarily. I think they will just stick with fewer releases per year and go with blockbusters....their behavior this year shows that. No major non-Pixar releases since May, (Swing Vote and St. Anna certainly don't qualify, even on paper) and by FAR the weakest Summer 09' slate.
They're headed in a different strategic direction.
Posted by: EthanG
at September 25, 2008 02:00 PM
What's with all the Depp hate?
Posted by: Monco
at September 25, 2008 04:16 PM
I think you're shortchanging "Heartsick," Chris. It's a solidly crafted thriller with solid characterizations and smart dialogue.
And Cadavra: doesn't every studio have an entire plethora of Ivy League interns whose only job is to read books, select magazine articles, spec scripts, etc. for potential development purposes?
It seems inconceivable that somebody, somewhere didn't see the commercial potential of Cain's book. It's a movie-movie natural.
So nobody knows anything about the "Abstinence Teacher" film?
Posted by: movieman
at September 25, 2008 05:10 PM
'depp donning indian drag to play tonto'...i can see it now:
'the ranger', an epic adventure and moving drama of unrequited love set against the stunning vistas and land wars of the old west; depp plays 'tonto', a sensitive, cross-dressing indian secretly in love with his long-time companion and righteous defender of the innocent, skilled horseman 'the ranger' (bill pullman). together, they fight injustice, namely the evil land-grabbing cattle baron 'mr. steele', jeff bridges in the role of a lifetime.
will the ranger and tonto thwart the villainous steele? will tonto finally win the ranger's affections? will their unconventional, interracial partnership survive the ignorance of the bigoted local cowboys once they realise that 'tonto' is, in fact, a man?
'the ranger'. december 2010
(from the writer of 'war: what is it good for?', directed by john sayles)
'brokeback meets zorro!' says variety
'a really great movie. johnyy depp was great' - ben lyons
(obviously i'm in a really weird mood!)
Posted by: leahnz
at September 25, 2008 07:22 PM
Bolt is solid kid's entertainment. Not exactly Pixar level, but perfectly enjoyable.
And EthanG... they have 4 movies this month, big movies in Bolt and Bedtime Stories in Nov and Dec, and 13 scheduled for next year. Not sure what you are on about.
Posted by: David Poland
at September 25, 2008 07:23 PM
"And Cadavra: doesn't every studio have an entire plethora of Ivy League interns whose only job is to read books, select magazine articles, spec scripts, etc. for potential development purposes?"
Yeah. In 1962. Apart from guaranteed blockbusters like DA VINCI CODE and the Harry Potters, the major studios nowadays make very few films based on novels. Comic books, yes. Literature, not so much.
Posted by: Cadavra
at September 25, 2008 08:34 PM
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