It just shows how fast things can change in Hollywood. Only a couple of weeks ago, the comedy Wedding Banned was getting ready to go into production early next year and it was announced that Anna Faris was in talks to join Robin Williams in the movie.
However that’s now all changed, as THR reports that Disney has shut the movie down and put the project into turnaround. It’s the second high profile casualty of the regime change at Disney, after Rich Ross replaced Dick Cook as the head of the studio. The first to go was a planned remake of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (which was pretty much replaced by last week’s announcement of a The Back Hole redo).
Wedding Banned is about a divorced couple who kidnap their daughter on her wedding day, to prevent her from making the same mistakes they did. They then have to avoid the cops and the angry groom. While Disney makes quite a lot of this sort of comedy, there’s speculation that the poor showing of the recent Robin Williams movie, Old Dogs (which the studio also produced), may have led to them cancelling Wedding Banned.
With the project in turnaround, the producers are now free to shop the movie to other studio, so it may not be all over for the film. However with Ross cancelling two of Disney’s 2011 releases, many are saying the studio’s slate for the year is now starting to look a little thin, although with their distribution deal with Dreamworks kicking in then (for example they’ve slated Real Steel for a November 2011 release) it may be that Disney is hoping that will pick up the shortfall.