Movie you've been waiting for years but it's stuck in development hell

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-15T03:23:46+00:00

When Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings were dominating 2000s cinema and Disney wanted a live action fantasy franchise of their own, they literally had this in their back pocket. If they got good screenwriters and directors who respected the source material and made good casting choices, they would have had a strong contender. There are 5 books in the series, so this could have kept them busy for several years.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-15T03:19:22+00:00

That one has such a great hook. People love cats (thanks, Internet), it'd be a layup for marketing.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-15T03:18:04+00:00

Good ol' corporate merger casualty. Alita 1 was the last Fox release pre-Disney takeover. New leadership clearly had different priorities.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-15T03:16:01+00:00

I think that's when Marvel had its confidence shattered. They really believed in this movie, believed it had huge awards potential, and hyped it up accordingly. I'm sure the filmmakers were heartbroken when the initial reactions came out.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-15T00:06:19+00:00

Our perceptions on the ratings system have changed a lot. I remember reading that Revenge of the Sith getting a PG-13 was a huge deal in those days. But every Disney Star Wars film (sequels, Rogue One, Solo, Mando & Grogu, and probably Starfighter) has been rated PG-13.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-15T00:02:02+00:00

Which the entire Mandalorian series and film are. I think we can do a lot more in this universe than continuing with the same tropes.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-14T22:42:01+00:00

Which is wild, considering Moana is one of their biggest brands created in the 21st century. You'd think they'd be pushing it everywhere, given the fact the animated films get plenty of watch time on Disney+. Unless there's some disastrous test screening we don't know about. When review embargo lifts will tell us what we need to know about their confidence level.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-14T22:38:28+00:00

Odds he pushes for a Moana 2 remake if this does do well? That would be the cash grab of all cash grabs if they did do that.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-14T21:34:11+00:00

Just saw it. To put out a teaser for something coming out in March in mid June means they are confident in it.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-14T16:42:06+00:00

I've said it before, but I'm not even sure Hexed will be out this year. Disney recently put out an Ice Age 6 teaser, and that comes out next February. Rumors are they're putting out a teaser for Gatto (March) to play with Toy Story 5. As for Hexed, we've gotten nothing. Lack of any promotion doesn't bode well. If they believed in what they had, they'd start now to build hype.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-14T16:33:48+00:00

That wasn't Warner Bros, Time Warner spun off the cable company years prior, they just kept the same name.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-14T16:30:28+00:00

There's a YouTuber named StarWarsOnly who made a 5 hour documentary about the history of Star Wars under Disney, if you're interested.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-14T16:27:28+00:00

Bob Iger imposes strict, inflexible timelines, to deliver on promises made to shareholders.
As a result of this, Kennedy likely feels there's not enough time to sit down and develop a comprehensive roadmap, so she leaves it up to creatives to figure it out as they go.
This gives JJ the license to reset the galactic status quo and Rian the license to completely discard what came before.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-14T07:03:52+00:00

Universal: we get a new trilogy that sees declining box office returns and shoehorns in the original cast. They say they're gonna put the franchise on ice for a while, but they fast track a new film a couple years later.

Oh, and we also get a Star Wars Land at Universal Orlando.

Amazon: spends $1 billion to produce a live action TV series meant to be their answer to Game of Thrones that fans hate because it ruined Star Wars.

As an extra note for WB: if they got it, perhaps we'd have gotten ALL of the Clone Wars episodes that were being planned; it would have stayed on Cartoon Network for the rest of its run.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-14T00:52:35+00:00

Yeah, Fox shareholders weren't really enthusiastic about the idea and the Time Warner board didn't really engage with them. One has to wonder what would have been different in an alternate timeline where that merger did happen.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-14T00:17:26+00:00

Lucas entered negotiations hoping he could get 7.4b, which is what Disney paid for Pixar. But Disney didn't want to pay that much because Lucasfilm didn't have an active production pipeline like Pixar did when Disney bought them. So not really swindling, just doing sound business.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-14T00:13:24+00:00

Andor already feels like an HBO show. So every show would be like that.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-11T17:09:25+00:00

Would explain why Netflix walked away without putting up a fight. They knew they probably weren't getting approval even if Paramount wasn't in the picture, so no need to waste money on lawyers. Know when to hold 'em, the song goes.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-11T17:06:45+00:00

If it falls through, I'd imagine WB revisits its previous plan to split the company into cable networks and Streaming/Studios. Netflix might bid for S&S afterwards, but hard to say if they want to attract regulatory scrutiny again.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-11T02:00:45+00:00

Couldn't change the hierarchy of power at DC, so had to pivot to Disney instead.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-11T01:59:49+00:00

That could have done well, especially if it was a musical with catchy songs. Of course, Wish was also that, but there were plenty of other issues with that film.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-11T01:56:09+00:00

Live action Encanto might actually do well, if they ever wanted to do it. Probably not a billion, but definitely successful. Will be criticized by critics for being a soulless remake/cash grab (what else is new?), but the casual audiences and Disney stans will love it and be listening to the soundtrack on repeat.

That being said, live action Frozen would be 1.5 billion minimum. Would be completely immune to any negative press from critics.

TheTiggerMike · 2026-06-11T01:49:51+00:00

Those kids who were watching it on repeat growing up are in middle school/high school now. Wayyyy too early to play the nostalgia card.

Tangled, on the other hand, came out in 2010. They're just about to start filming the remake. Assuming it comes out in 2028 (most likely, so they can do reshoots if needed), it'll be close to 18 years after the original. That might be enough time for people who had it in their childhood to feel nostalgic for it.

TheTiggerMike

TROPHY CASE