Disney adds another live action fairytale to its slate

The sizeable opening for Oz The Great And Powerful over the weekend, with nearly $150m in the bank worldwide already, marks the second time that Disney has scored very big with what's effectively a live action fairy story.

Tim Burton's take on Alice In Wonderland took over $1bn in cinemas a couple of years back, and the studio has committed to more projects of a similar ilk. Malificent, based around the villain from Sleeping Beauty, is already well in the works, with a release next March (and Angelina Jolie leading the cast). After that, Kenneth Branagh is set to direct a live action take on Cinderella (which Emma Watson has turned down), and rumours persist that an Alice In Wonderland 2 is in the works.

It looks as if Disney is committing to one such film a year. Add in its Star Wars plans, its output from Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, and, of course, Marvel, and that means that the studio will be knowing what five of its big films are every year for some time to come.

The next fairy story Disney is looking to tackle looks like it's going to be Beauty And the Beast. News has now broken that Joe Ahearne has been hired to pen a script for the movie, Ahearne, who has penned the new Danny Boyle movie Trance (as well as directing episodes of Doctor Who), will write the movie, currently under the working title of The Beast. It's unclear who will direct yet, but the project looks third in line in Disney's queue of live action fairy tales.

More news on it as we get it.

Source.

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