Sam Mendes is in early talks to direct
Disney’s live-action
Pinocchio. The move would push forward yet another live-action reboot of the old tried and true animated classic for the studio. Disney’s feature film strategy has been working well as its live-action
Beauty and the Beast has made $1.2B worldwide and
The Jungle Book grossed $966.5M worldwide.
Jungle Book director Jon Favreau is prepping a live-action
The Lion King and Tim Burton is ready to roll on
Dumbo. Others in the mix are
The Little Mermaid, a
Cruella De Vil movie,
Aladdin, and
Mulan.
The studio is also rebooting
Mary Poppins and got a nice shout out the other night from dikk Van Dyke at the premiere of HBO and George Shapiro’s
If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast. Van Dyke said that he plays the son of the old banker in the film and also does a dance number in it. Despite being 91, he is still very agile.
Mendes just opened a play in London, directing playwright’s Jez Butterworth’s The Ferryman which stared Paddy Considine — and by the way, sold out within a day at the Royal Court and then opened at the West End.
Mendes, who won an Academy Award for directing American Beauty and whose other credits include the James Bond films
Spectre and
Skyfall, is repped by CAA, The Agency and law firm Ziffren Brittenham.
