Halloween Kill's director David Gordon Green is set to helm Disney's upcoming project centered on the creation of Disneyland and the iconic Walt Disney behind it all.
Reports indicate that the project will be headed straight to Disney Plus, the popular streaming platform known for new fan-favorite releases like Star Wars' The Mandalorian and the MCU's WandaVision. Evan Spiliotopoulos, who wrote other successful Disney films such as 2017's live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast and most recently was involved with this year's Snake Eyes, is on board to write.
Deadline reports the film will also be produced by Cavalry Media and producer Jason Reed (behind the live-action Mulan), as Reed reportedly spent a year developing the pitch before bringing it to Disney's attention. Gordon, who is still preparing for the slasher Halloween Kills' October 15th release, is coming off a critical and box office success with 2018's Halloween, which racked up $255.6 million, the most in the entire franchise. Disneyland, which first opened in 1955, is the only park that Walt Disney was able to supervise himself. While the legendary creator did have some involvement in the development of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, he died 5 years before the park opened.
All of these attractions were first made possible when Walt dreamed up the idea of Disneyland while sitting on a bench and watching his daughters riding a carousel at Griffith Park in California. Since then, Disney Parks throughout the world have created many iconic attractions, including The Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and Pirates of the Caribbean, many of which were either based on or have been turned into movies. 2013’s Saving Mr. Banks, in which Tom Hanks played the visionary entrepreneur, was the most recent film from Disney about the man himself and centered on the creator's pursuit to obtain the creative screen rights to author P.L. Travers' Marry Poppins novels. The Oscar-nominated film also starred Emma Thompson as Travers.
It will be interesting to see what Gordon's filmography experience can bring to Disney. Although seeming like a very odd pick to direct what appears to be a light-hearted Disney movie, Green has experience dabbling in multiple genres throughout his career. The director has produced dramas (Undertow, Joe, Stronger), comedies (Pineapple Express, Your Highness, Eastbound & Down), and now horror, as recent news has revealed that Green is also attached to write and direct an upcoming Exorcist sequel to William Friedkin's 1973 classic, as well as a Hellraiser series.
The untitled Disneyland film is currently in development.
Source: Deadline