Luke Evans as Gaston in 2017’s ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ Photo: Disney.
Preview:
Disney is developing a Gaston movie.
The character was last seen in the live-action ‘Beauty and the Beast.’
Dave Callaham will write the script.
No-one spins off like Gaston?
If Disney has its way, the boastful, buffoonish character from ‘Beauty and the Beast’ will be getting his own movie.
Last seen in 2017 live-action take on the fairy tale, there played by Luke Evans, the character is now the focus of development on a new film.
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While the success of that movie –– which also starred Emma Watson, Dan Stevens and Josh Gad –– spurred development of a potential spin-off TV series starring Evans and Gad (who was his loyal sidekick LeFou), that didn’t come to pass. But according to Deadline, the studio is energized by the new concept (more on that in a moment).
Gaston (Richard White) in 1991’s animated ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ Photo: Disney.
Gaston first appeared in Disney’s original 1991 animated classic (there voiced by Richard White) as an arrogant and ruthless hunter who had unrequited feelings for the main protagonist, the beauty Belle, and ultimately becomes the main adversary of The Beast.
That said, Deadline’s sources have heard that it’ll be a new and original take on the character with a new actor, and that the film will have “swashbuckling” tones to it.
Evans was a great Gaston in the 2017 effort, so whoever takes over the character’s smug mantle will have some big boots to fill. And might the movie go the ‘Cruella’ route and chart where his attitude came from?
When will the Gaston movie be in theaters?
Gaston (Richard White) in 1991’s animated ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ Photo: Disney.
With no director aboard yet and zero casting, don’t expect to see this one on screens just yet. Disney has also to yet to officially announce the movie either.
Octavia Spencer in 2019’s ‘Ma’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Preview:
Octavia Spencer will return for a ‘Ma’ sequel.
Blumhouse announced the movie at its inaugural “Business of Fear” event.
No director is attached yet.
The Blumhouse team, for all of its dedication to making original movies, has not been shy about commissioning sequels to its successes, and building franchises, albeit still making titles on a thrifty budget.
At the company’s recent “Business of Fear” event, boss Jason Blum, in collaboration with creative partner James Wan of Atomic Monster (the two companies signed a pact to work together), announced that one such movie getting the follow-up treatment is 2019 thriller ‘Ma,’ with star Octavia Spencer confirmed to return.
While the original movie was written by Scotty Landes and directed by Tate Taylor, we don’t yet know who will be working on the sequel.
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Here’s Blum talking about the new movie in a statement:
“ ‘Ma’ has proven to be a social phenomenon since its release in 2019, with fans eagerly embracing the film and Octavia’s iconic performance as Ma. As Ma likes to say ‘don’t make me drink alone,’ so we’re thrilled Octavia will join us again for a second round.”
Octavia Spencer and the cast of 2019’s ‘Ma’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
The original film followed a group of high schoolers (played by Diana Silvers, Corey Fogelmanis, McKaley Miller, Gianni Paolo and Dante Brown) who find an unlikely, intergenerational friend in Sue Ann Ellington, a lonesome veterinarian and devoted party animal played by Spencer.
The woman, affectionately called “Ma,” allows the teens to party in her basement, but things get bloody once their relationship starts to sour –– as it turns out, “Ma” has a complicated history with the several of the teens’ parents. And she’s out for vengeance…
Where might a ‘Ma’ sequel go?
Octavia Spencer in 2019’s ‘Ma’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
That’s the big question at this point –– and spoiler alert if you didn’t see the first movie.
‘Ma’ ends with Sue Ann stabbed and cuddling with the dead body of her own high school crush, Ben (Luke Evans) as her house starts to burn down around her.
But if we’ve learned anything from horror movies in the past, it’s that the villain, especially one as complicated as Sue Ann, rarely lets a little thing like presumably certain death get in the way of returning.
There are any number of avenues this potential follow-up could take –– even a prequel is possible. But our money is on Ma getting back to her old ways, and likely looking to exact revenge on more people, especially those who survived the original.
Where else can we find Octavia Spencer?
Octavia Spencer as Kimberly in Apple TV+’s ‘Spirited .’
From her early days in tiny supporting roles (blink and miss her in the likes of Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man,’‘Being John Malkovich’ and ‘S.W.A.T.’), Spencer has steadily grown into a versatile performer who can pull off both comedy and drama –– and often both together in one performance.
She’s memorable in a wealth of roles but enjoyed a big breakout via ‘The Help’ (also directed by longtime friend Taylor), for which she won a Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar for her portrayal of Minny Jackson.
And in TV terms, she’s been equally busy, including another Apple project, drama series ‘Truth be Told.’
Spencer is also active as a producer, setting up various projects to appear in, but also helping filmmakers get their projects made.
What else did Blumhouse announce at its event?
Jigsaw in 2023’s ‘Saw X’. Photo: Lionsgate Films.
Among the other projects that Jason Blum and others announced at the event is an adaptation of paranormal horror video game title ‘Phasmophobia.’
That was released in 2020, developed and published by British indie game studio Kinetic Games. The game has surpassed 23 million in global sales and has become a genre-defining title in multiplayer horror gaming.
The game is an investigation survival game played from a first-person point of view. The player can work alone or with a group of people to identify the type of ghost haunting a specific location. No talent is attached to that one yet.
And that wasn’t the only news, as Blum also brought word that the company is in the midst of a deal to acquire the rights to venerable horror franchise ‘Saw’ from Twisted Pictures’ Mark Burg and Oren Koules.
Lionsgate will continue to be involved as a partner and continue to own 50% of the franchise.
Most notably, it brings the movie series closer back to Wan, who co-wrote with Leigh Whannell and directed the 2004 movie that kicked the whole saga off. He’s since served as an executive producer on the other films.
An 11th movie has been in development, and at one point had been scheduled for this September. But creative differences have led to it stalling –– hopes are likely high that Wan and co. can get things back on track.
“It’s much harder to do what we started doing 15 years ago. So the way that we’ve addressed that is by adding a bit of money to our model; but still, by studio standards, for instance, the budgets of our movies are 60% off the average sticker price, actually probably more, 75% off, the average sticker price.”
When will the ‘Ma’ sequel stalk on to screens?
It’s very early in the process for this one, despite the announcement and Spencer’s involvement, the movie has yet to confirm a director (though Taylor could always be tempted back) and Blumhouse hasn’t set a release date.
Presumably, that will all be firmed up once the movie actually has a creative plan in place.
‘M3GAN’ producer and CEO of Blumhouse Productions Jason Blum.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Luke Evans about his work on ‘Weekend in Taipei’, his first reaction to the screenplay, his character’s personal history, shooting the action sequences, working with the cast, reuniting with ‘Fast & Furious 6’ co-star Sung Kang, collaborating with director George Huang on set, and what he learned from Luc Besson.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Evans, Sung Kang, Wyatt Yang, and director George Huang.
Luke Evans in ‘Weekend in Taipei’. Photo: EuropaCorp.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay?
Luke Evans: I mean, the script was just very entertaining. It just felt like a very fun character. I got to move to Taipei for three months. Taipei became such an incredible part of the story. We were able to shoot in all those amazing locations in the city. Luc Besson and George Huang wrote a beautiful script, and it’s just full of everything. There are amazing fight sequences, and great action pieces. There’s a strong emotional core with the relationship between my character and Gwei Lun-mei‘s character. You really root for these people, and there’s humor to it. There’s a bit of tongue-in-cheek charm that my character has. We tried to bring all of that to the story. I really loved it.
MF: What can you say about John and Joey’s past together?
LE: Yeah, so John met Joey (Gwei Lun-mei) 15 years prior to where the story begins and had to leave her there. It all gets explained in the film as to why this happened. But little did he realize that when he left, she was pregnant with their child, and he has no contact with her. His job demands that he cuts all ties with everybody. He loses the love of his life and goes back to Minneapolis and carries on just doing his job and doesn’t find anybody else. Joey brings up their son, and then he comes back to Taipei. Not to meet them; he doesn’t even know that they exist or anything. Then he finds out that they’re there, and they are integral to the storyline. He then must change his priorities as to why he’s there. Now it’s to protect them, his new family, which he didn’t think he had.
(L to R) Wyatt Yang and Gwei Lun-mei in ‘Weekend in Taipei’. Photo: EuropaCorp.
MF: What was it like working with Gwei Lun-mei and the young actor who plays Raymond, Wyatt Yang?
LE: Obviously my first connection was with these two lovely people. We get on very well. Anyway, they’re very lovely. Wyatt was just so charming and innocent and unfazed by everything, impressively, because he’d never been on a film set before. This was his first job, and he just took it all in his stride. Mei, who is just so gracious; she just exudes charm. She is just this beautiful energy and very kind. We just clicked very quickly, and we just became this little family unit, and enjoyed the journey together. We tried to make it fun, and it was. There was a lot of fun moments. Yeah, it was lovely.
MF: Can you talk about shooting the action sequences?
LE: Well, they were full-on. Obviously, I do my stunts as much as I can. So, I came three weeks before we started shooting, and spent every day with the stunt department. We had the French stunt coordinator with his team, and then we had the Taiwanese stunt coordinator, and then a translator that was translating between English, French, and Taiwanese. There was a lot of back-and-forth, but we somehow made it work. Three weeks of rehearsal put me in good stead then to be able to do the stunts and the fights.
Sung Kang in ‘Weekend in Taipei’. Photo: EuropaCorp.
MF: What was it like reuniting with your ‘’Fast & Furious 6′ co-star Sung Kang?
LE: Lovely. I mean, he’s such a gentleman; and he’s great in the movie. We didn’t have a lot to do with each other in ‘Fast 6’. Obviously, I met him when we did the press tour. I spent a lot of time with him. He’s just wonderful, and he’s a lovely partner. So, this time it was nice to play against him on the screen. He’s playing the bad guy, and I’m playing the good guy for once.
MF: What was it like collaborating with George Huang and Luc Besson on set?
LE: Well, it was wonderful. I mean, it was a very collaborative experience from the outset, and George steered the ship beautifully. It was lovely to have a Taiwanese American director who had co-written the script with Luc Besson. Having Luc there as well: he was around, and it was nice to have conversations and talk about development and what we were doing. We were all very happy to be there. Remember, this was very much a time when a lot of productions in the world had come to a standstill. We were very lucky to get one of those allowances to keep shooting. So, we all felt very lucky to be working, and it was wonderful. I mean, we were all having the best time. Taipei is amazing. You should go visit.
Luke Evans in ‘Weekend in Taipei’. Photo: EuropaCorp.
MF: Finally, you also worked with Luc Besson in 2019’s ‘Anna’. What have you learned from working with him on these two movies?
LE: I mean, Luc has many stories. He’s worked with the great and the good, and he is a great storyteller. I know many stories: which I could never tell you, because that would be breaking my code of confidentiality with my friend Luc. But he does have many fun stories to tell. We had many dinners: me, Luc, George, Mei; they work very well together, George and Luc. I think that’s a partnership that we will see a lot more of, I think, as we go forward.
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What is the plot of ‘Weekend in Taipei’?
John Lawlor (Luke Evans), a committed American Drug Enforcement Administration agent, fell in love with Joey (Gwei Lun-mei), a Taipei-based transporter, but was forced to separate due to the disruption of criminal and corruption activities. 15 years later, the duo is reunited when Lawlor is on a mission in Taipei.
Though it would seem to have wrapped up its story –– especially since it is based on a novel –– with its first season, Hulu’s ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ is preparing a second.
It would seem that the streaming service is ready to go the ‘White Lotus’ route and turn the concept into an anthology, with star Nicole Kidman the sole name (so far) from Season 1 set to return.
What was the story of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ first season?
(L to R) Luke Evans, Melvin Gregg, Michael Shannon, Manny Jacinto, and Bobby Cannavale star in Hulu’s ‘Nine Perfect Strangers.’ Photo: Vince Valitutti/Hulu.
Debuting in September 2021 as Hulu’s most-watched Hulu original ever — drama, comedy, limited series or unscripted –– the show saw nine stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living with a 10-day star at a boutique California wellness resort run by director Masha (Kidman), a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. However, these nine “perfect” strangers have no idea what is about to hit them…
It remains to be seen whether the idea can work a second time, since audiences, even those who have not read the book, will know what to expect. Still, viewers embraced the second run of HBO’s ‘Big Little Lies’ adaptation (which also starred Kidman) despite that show’s first season being planned as a limited series.
It’s an increasing phenomenon for companies on the hunt for successful titles that can attract audiences to convert what are originally announced as one-shots into continuing series. HBO in particular has drawn dividends with ‘The White Lotus’ which went from one season made in the midst of the pandemic to an ongoing anthology series that carries over one or two actors each time. That show, created by Mike White, has earned plenty of awards acclaim and seen big viewership.
Moriarty, meanwhile, has become a go-to author for companies looking for source material. Her book ‘Apples Never Fall’ is in development and several others have been optioned.
Premiering on Apple TV+ on November 23rd is the new action series ‘Echo 3,’ which was created, directed and executive produced by Academy Award-winner Mark Boal (‘The Hurt Locker’).
The series stars Jessica Ann Collins as Amber, a scientist who goes missing along the Colombia-Venezuela. Her brother, Bambi (Luke Evans), and her husband, Prince (Michiel Huisman), both have extensive military experience and set out on their own to find her against the backdrop of a secret war.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Luke Evans, Michiel Huisman and Jessica Ann Collins about their work on ‘Echo 3,’ their characters, preparing for their roles, and working with Mark Boal.
(L to R) Michiel Huisman, Jessica Ann Collins and Luke Evans star in Apple TV+’s ‘Echo 3.’
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Evans, Michiel Huisman, Collins, and Mark Boal.
Moviefone: To begin with, Luke, can you talk about your approach to playing Bambi, and what were some of the aspects of the character you were excited to explore on screen?
Luke Evans: When you take on a role like Bambi, there’s a lot of preparation. There’s a lot of conversations, a lot of physical training, and I was ready for it. I was forewarned by Mark Boal that it wasn’t going to be an easy job from the outset, and he was absolutely right. It was challenging physically, and mentally. It’s a long job.
It was nine months almost in Columbia, which is an extraordinary country, but to shoot what we shot, and every single location was a real place, comes with its own demands and challenges. So, we all embraced the challenges that we were facing and made the most of it. I’m in this business, I don’t want to have an easy ride. I want to challenge myself and choose roles that are going to push me to the limits, and this one was one of those.
MF: Michiel, can you talk about the Special Forces work that Prince and Bambi do for a living, and what training did you have to make that look as authentic as possible on screen?
Michiel Huisman: We did a ton of training to do justice to their background as Special Forces operators. When we first met up a couple weeks before we started shooting, we were immediately introduced to Mitch Hall, who’s a former Navy Seal himself, and he really took us through the ringer and trained us in how these guys move, behave, and how they handle weapons. That was a very important part of it too.
What was exciting to us was that it was very important to Mark Boal that we would portray this in the most realistic way possible. You don’t see that very often, and I was very happy about that. I’m very proud about that.
(L to R) Jessica Ann Collins and Michiel Huisman in ‘Echo 3,’ premiering November 23, 2022 on Apple TV+.
MF: Jessica, can you talk about Amber, her relationship to Bambi and Prince, and what it was like for you working on those relationships with Luke and Michiel?
Jessica Ann Collins: I think the relationships between Amber and her brother Bambi, and her husband Prince, are the actual crux of the show. I think that those are the relationships that carry the show. So, we all spend a lot of time focusing on those bonds, and talking about them, and really envisioning them. Inside of that, what is great is that there was room for being as complex as possible.
So, all of these characters have such complexity. You hear all the time about strong female leads, which I’m all for, but you rarely hear about complex female leads. So, I loved bringing complexity to the relationships with each of these men, and what those meant, and what they did for her.
MF: Finally, for all of you, what was it like working with Mark Boal on this project?
LE: It was incredible. From the outset, I had access to Mark, and he had access to us so that we could process every step of the way. It’s a long job, so there’s a lot of script, and there’s a lot of rewrites and adaptations as we were moving through the story of the characters’ journeys. But Mark, his passion for what he does is immense, and his commitment to the job was immense.
To have him on set almost every day throughout the whole process was really something I’d never experienced before from a showrunner, and it only benefited everybody by having him there. Also, it allowed us to have a dialogue all the time. He gets his feet wet. He gets his hands dirty. He wants to be there to experience what we are experiencing. So, it felt like we were a team from the outset, and we were all contributing together for the end product, and that was a really nice experience.
MH: I completely agree with everything that Luke was saying about that. I think that the process with Mark is very intense. He’s very hands on, and I think that he’s a filmmaker that really knows what he wants. I’m very grateful that I was given the opportunity to be part of his next project.
JAC: I think that it was very freeing for me to know that I could trust the person helping craft this performance, and that he was bringing a level of integrity, and he brought it to this, and that was a very safe place for me.
(L to R) Michiel Huisman and Luke Evans in ‘Echo 3,’ premiering November 23, 2022 on Apple TV+.
Unlike some of his other projects, it doesn’t appear that Levy is starring in this one. And there’s no sign of his father, Eugene, either (though we wouldn’t rule out at least a cameo).
Details are scarce on what roles the cast are taking, but we do at least have some details. Written by Levy, the movie follows Marc Dreyfus. He’s chosen to distract himself from the loss of his mom with a comfortable marriage.
But when his husband also dies unexpectedly, Marc is forced to finally confront the grief he’s tried so hard to avoid, sending him and his two closest friends on a Parisian weekend of self-discovery.
“‘Good Grief’ is a cautionary tale about friendship and loss and all the mess that comes with it when the truth is something you’ve evaded for most of your life,” says Levy. “It’s funny, it’s bittersweet, it’s a project that has helped me work through my own grief. And I hope it does the same for other people as well.”
Negga needs little introduction at this point, but she scored an Oscar nomination for her work in 2016 ‘Loving’ and was excellent in last year’s ‘Passing’.
Ruth Negga to star in director Dan Levy’s ‘Good Grief’ for Netflix. Photo courtesy of Netflix.
Patel broke out in 2019 alternate universe comedy drama ‘Yesterday’, where he played the only person on Earth who remembers The Beatles. He was more recently seen as part of the cast of HBO series ‘Station Eleven’.
Imrie is a British acting stalwart, seen in ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’, its sequel and all three Bridget Jones movies. She also had a key role on FX series ‘Better Things’.
Bradley is primarily known for two big genre roles – sneering Hogwarts caretaker Mr. Filch in the ‘Harry Potter’ movies and the brutal Walder Frey in several episodes of ‘Game of Thrones.’
French actor Valois is less well known in the States, but he has been seen in 2017’s ‘BPM (Beats Per Minute).’
‘Good Grief’ will be a Netflix release (not shocking given Levy’s ties to the streaming service given its support of ‘Schitt’s Creek’) but it doesn’t have a release date set yet.
Luke Evans attends the UK Premiere of ‘Dracula Untold’ at Odeon West End on October 1, 2014 in London, England. Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images.
Premiering on Disney+ on September 8th, Disney+ Day, the studio’s new version of ‘Pinocchio’ continues its drive to make newer, live-action versions of its animated output.
Unfortunately, in the case of ‘Pinocchio’, the result is one of the much lesser examples of that effort. And that’s even more surprising given the pedigree of people behind and in front of the camera.
While he’s had a few misses in his time (‘Welcome to Marwen’ and his remake of ‘The Witches’ didn’t feel the critics’ love and didn’t do much for audiences either), he’s a proven talent. And his collaborations with Tom Hanks – ‘Gump’, for which Hanks was amongst the Oscar winners – and survival drama ‘Cast Away’ are still considered classics.
It’s even more disappointing to report, then, that ‘Pinocchio’ is such a dud that has the whiff of corporate requirement that feels less like it has fairy dust sprinkled over it and more like it was pumped out by a machine.
There are a few tweaks here and there, but this new telling of the tale follows the basic points of the original. Widowed carver Geppetto (Hanks, slathering on prosthetics and a strange accent for the second time this year after ‘Elvis’) is still grieving the loss of his son.
He’s become a shut-in, refusing to sell most of the items in his shop and creating a new child in the shape of a puppet he names Pinocchio because the toy has white pine wood in his head.
And just a cricket arrives seeking shelter in the shop (the Joseph Gordon-Levitt-voiced Jiminy), a fairy arrives to grant Geppetto’s wish that the puppet lad comes to life.
It’s here we should note that Cynthia Erivo, with her typically lyrical, powerful singing voice, is one of the few bright spots of the movie, effortlessly charming in a small role. With Jiminy assigned as the wooden boy’s conscience, the story proper can kick off, as Geppetto bonds with his new “child”, who can now talk and move without need of strings (‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’s Benjamin Evan Ainsworth provides his voice).
Yet realizing that he’ll need to learn to socialize with other, human children, Geppetto encourages Pinocchio to attend school, which does not go well. Instead, he’s encouraged by wolfish, shady theatrical agent Honest John (Keegan Michael-Key) to pursue fame.
From there, he’s soon part of a traveling puppet show run by the alternately enthusiastic and cruel Stromboli (Giuseppe Battiston), who takes him on tour. And he also falls afoul of The Coachman (Luke Evans, in a much less meaty role than his ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Gaston), who promises to whisk him and other kids away to Pleasure Island where the unfortunate kids indulge, only to transform into donkeys headed for the local mines.
All this proceeds in roughly similar fashion to the animated version, but while that 1940 movie has long since entered the classic canon, this new ‘Pinocchio’ seems destined to do little than take up space on Disney’s streaming servers.
A big issue is the CG for Pinocchio and his various friends (including Geppetto’s pet fish Cleo and kitten Figaro), which look to ape the cartoon examples, but come across as cheaper, quickly pumped out efforts that have little of the charm of the originals.
While hewing close to the design of the 1940’s ‘Pinocchio,’ the update has wood grain and texture that you can only achieve in 3D, but he doesn’t have the same charm.
Hanks, meanwhile, does his best to inject life into Geppetto, yet the effect is more of someone on a ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit than a solid recreation of a landmark Disney title.
Some of the performances – Key as Honest John, for example, and the sweet-natured Fabiana (a puppeteer brought to life by newcomer Kyanne Lamaya) make an impression. Fabiana, for example, is one of the new additions, who makes a connection with Pinocchio and provides some real emotion in a movie that largely struggles to generate it.
In terms of other additions, there is Sofia the seagull (Lorraine Bracco), who has a couple of moments with Jiminy but makes little impact.
Possibly most disappointing of all is the finale, which goes through the sea monster motions as Geppetto looks to save Pinocchio only for the puppet boy to help him out instead, and then hand waves away his ultimate wish in a seconds-long wrap up from Jiminy. It’s more frustrating than magical, as though Zemeckis and co-writer Chris Weitz (with ‘Paddington’s Simon Farnaby also credited) couldn’t be bothered to truly finish the story.
Many of the classic songs are present and correct (plus a couple of new tunes, one from Fabiana) and while Erivo knocks “When You Wish Upon a Star” out of the park, most of the others are unremarkable.
There are several things you might wish upon a star to improve in this latest Disney movie, and you can see why the company chose to punt it straight to streaming (unlike, say, the Pixar productions ‘Soul‘ and ‘Turning Red,‘ which both deserved a theatrical release).
We fear it’ll take more than one fairy’s worth of magic to turn this one from a wooden effort into a real, live movie.
As Disney+ Day is fast approaching, the studio is making sure we all remember that one of the big launches for the day will be Robert Zemeckis’ new take on ‘Pinocchio’.
Carlo Collodi’s tale was originally published in serial form as ‘The Story of a Puppet’ way back in July 1881. The publication stopped at Chapter 15, but popular demand meant it resumed in February 1882. Re-released in single book form in 1883, it has been hailed as one of the greatest works of Italian literature.
It has been adapted many times for the screen – probably most famously in Disney’s own 1940 animated version, which took home Oscars for original song and score.
Tom Hanks is once again reuniting with his ‘Cast Away’/’Forrest Gump‘/’Polar Express’ director Zemeckis for this latest blend of actors and effects. Hanks here plays Hanks’ Geppetto, the woodcarver who builds Pinocchio and treats him as if he were his own son.
‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’s Benjamin Evan Ainsworth will be bringing vocal life to the title character, who dreams of becoming a real boy and heads out on a quest to make that happen.
Also either acting or providing voices here? Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Pinocchio’s guide Jiminy Cricket; Cynthia Erivo as the Blue Fairy; Keegan-Michael Key as “Honest” John; Lorraine Bracco as a new character, Sofia the Seagull; and Luke Evans as The Coachman. Some will come to the puppet lad’s aid, while others have more nefarious plans in mind.
This new trailer gives us our clearest look yet at Pinocchio in action, and Zemeckis’ effects team has certainly hewed to the look of the character from the animated version. His quest for humanity, meanwhile promises an epic adventure of danger and wonder, all sprinkled with some usual Disney fairy dust.
Plus, when you hire Cynthia Erivo, you have someone who can belt out a song or two and that certainly sounds like her covering classic ‘Pinocchio’ tune ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’.
Whether this new movie can lodge itself inside the imagination of audiences the way that the cartoon example did remains to be seen; Disney’s rooting through its animated canon for movies to transform this way have been a mixed bag so far. But there’s no denying Zemeckis’ ability to make cinematic magic.
Yet given the popularity of the puppet boy for adaptations, Zemeckis’ new version will not just be competing with its own studio history. Guillermo del Toro has a darker, stop-motion version due on Netflix this coming December. So Disney does at least have a head (or a long nose) start.
‘Pinocchio’ will premiere on Disney+ on September 8th, alongside a variety of other new shows and movies.
Billy Porter makes an impact no matter what he does – whether it’s gracing the screen or walking red carpets on awards shows. He’s also been outspoken on LGBTQ issues and brings his A-game when it comes to his looks.
Now, he’s becoming a filmmaker, which sounds like a sensible next step for his career.
Once known as ‘What If?’, ‘Anything’s Possible’ follows Kelsa (Eva Reign), a confident high school girl who is trans, as she navigates through senior year. When her classmate Khal (Abubakr Ali) gets a crush on her, he musters up the courage to ask her out, despite the drama he knows it could cause. What transpires is a romance that showcases the joy, tenderness, and pain of young love.
The cast also includes Renée Elise Goldsberry, Courtnee Carter, Kelly Lamor Wilson, Grant Reynolds, Caroline Travers, and Lav Raman. Ximena García Lecuona wrote this one and Porter, who has previously been best known for the likes of ‘Pose’, ‘American Horror Story: Apocalypse’ and Prime Videos’ recent version of ‘Cinderella’, makes his directorial debut with the new movie.
From the looks of the trailer, Porter and his crew have cooked up a colorful, sweet story that nevertheless doesn’t shy away from how tough it can be transitioning, especially in a high school scenario. Teen dramas are commonplace, but this appears to be handling the themes in a sensitive, thoughtful way.
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‘Anything’s Possible’ will be on Prime Video on July 22nd.
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And Porter is already making plans to tackle his second film as a director, having already signed on to make queer comedy ‘To Be Real’, which Gabrielle Union‘s company is producing.
The script comes from Ryan Shiraki, a writer and director who most recently has been busy helming episodes of TV series such as ‘On My Block’ and ‘Katy Keene’.
The story is in the vein of ‘Superbad’ and ‘Booksmart’ following, with the official logline reading, “three queer friends who escape their hometown for Pride Weekend in New York City where they discover that life over the rainbow is an insane, raunchy, often divisive, but ultimately FIERCE non-stop party.”
And, assuming the movie ever actually ever comes together, he’s still supposed to voice killer alien plant Audrey II in the new adaptation of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. But from the looks of this trailer, Porter’s schedule could become more crowded with directing work as well as acting gigs.
Continuing its efforts to mine its entire animated canon to fuel new movies that blend live action with CG, Disney has been planning for a while to bring puppet picture ‘Pinocchio’ into that group.
It presents quite the challenge: the 1940 original is a beloved example of animation that won two Oscars and introduced a batch of memorable music to the world.
Still, ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘Back to the Future’ director Robert Zemeckis decided to take on the task, bringing his ‘Gump’ star Tom Hanks along for the ride and co-writing the script with Simon Farnaby and Chris Weitz. As you might expect given that this hews closer to the Disney original than Carlo Collodi’s darker source material, this is the tale of a wooden puppet who embarks on a thrilling adventure to become a real boy.
Hanks stars as Geppetto, the wood carver who builds and treats Pinocchio (voiced by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) as if he were his own son. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Jiminy Cricket, who serves as Pinocchio’s guide as well as his “conscience” while Cynthia Erivo is the Blue Fairy, who considers the wooden boy’s wish.
Also in the cast are Kyanne Lamaya as Fabiana (and her marionette Sabina), Giuseppe Battiston as Señor Stromboli and Lewin Lloyd as Lampwick.
Though the title is “Pinocchio”, this latest look at the movie certainly seems to be putting Hanks’ Geppetto front and center, which is perhaps not so surprising given that he’s the biggest name in the cast, and this marks his latest reunion with the director. The wooden character barely shows up here, reduced to a small moment at the end.
As for Disney’s movie, the new trailer is also the studio’s way of confirming its release date – though given the presence of Zemeckis behind the camera and Hanks in front of it, you might assume it’ll be in theaters. Instead, the studio is targeting this one for a Disney+ debut on September 8th.
That is also this year’s Disney+ Day, when we can expect a variety of other premieres and announcements, though it’s also the day for D23 Expo: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, which happens in Anaheim and will have its own line-up of news about forthcoming Disney movies and shows.
‘Pinocchio’ will debut on Disney+ September 8th.
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