With Pirates Of The Caribbean their biggest franchise, Disney has been busy looking at other ways they can take their theme park attractions and turn them into movies. A second crack at a Haunted Mansion film is in the works, there’s talk of an Enchanted Tiki Room film and Jon Favreau is developing a film based on the entire Magic Kingdom parks.
Now they’re looking to turn the Jungle Cruise into a movie, and they’ve recruited the stars of one of their other major franchises, Toy Story, to help them, with Deadline reporting that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are signed up to star.
Roger S.H. Schulman will write the script, but at the moment no plot details are known for the live action movie. The ride follows a steam boat down the wilds of Africa, where it comes in contact with numerous safari animals such as lions, elephants, and hippos (at the parks these are all animatronic). The boat’s most exciting feature is that it comes under attack from natives who pelt the audience with arrows and blow darts, all of which will most likely be incorporated into this feature film.
David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, who both produced the Best Picture nominee The Fighter, will produce for Mandeville Films. There’s no director as yet, so it sounds like it’s fairly early days.
As Disney found with Pirates, if you can turn an old, flagging ride into a successful movie, you can make millions, not just at the cinema but also in park tickets. If it works, it could be worth billions, which is why they’ve already got Allen and Hanks onboard to try and ensure it’s got the best chance possible.