When Disney runs out of ideas, it looks to its theme park rides for inspiration. It may not have worked for Haunted Mansion and The Country Bears, but Pirates Of The Caribbean looms large, and so nothing at the parks is off-limits for a dust down and potential movie.
This time around it’s the Matterhorn Bobsleds that are getting the film treatment. The ride was one of the first at Disneyland, opening in 1959, and at the time was one of the few true ‘thrill rides’ at the park, although by rollercoaster standards it’s pretty tame these days.
It doesn’t really sound like the movie will have much to do with the ride, barring a mountain and yetis being involved – although of course linking the two together makes commercial sense. The film is going by the working title, The Hill and Jason Dean Hall has been hired to pen the script. THR says that the film will be, ‘a thrilling, fast-paced movie centering on five young adventure seekers who, for mysterious reasons, are called to the top of the mountain and encounter a Yetis on the journey down.’
While I did slightly deride Disney’s ride to movie obsession, at least they seem to be going about things a better way now. Already in development is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which David Fincher is attached to helm, Guillermo Del Toro is overseeing a new version of Haunted Mansion, and Jon Favreau is developing a flick based on the entire Magic Kingdom. At least they’re putting talent before concept now.