(Image courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter)
Just last Friday, we reported on another addition to Disney’s slate of live action remakes (an Aladdin prequel titled Genies). Once again, we report on yet another addition to Disney’s slate of live-action remakes. Only, this one may sound interesting.
The latest addition was unveiled on Monday (courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter) that the studio is developing a live-action remake of the 1963 animated film The Sword in the Stone. Bryan Cogman, best known as a writer-producer on Game of Thrones, will write the screenplay. Brigham Taylor, a Disney veteran whose credits include the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and the upcoming Jon Favreau-helmed remake of The Jungle Book, will produce.
Known to be the final film released before Walt Disney’s death in 1966, The Sword in the Stone told the story of a young King Arthur, who undergoes an apprenticeship from Merlin in preparation for his destiny as the future King of England and leader of the Knights of the Round Table.
It’s worth mentioning that the film was based loosely on T. H. White’s novel of the same name, first published as its own novel in 1938 and later republished as part of White’s The Once and Future King saga.
Bryan Cogman is no stranger to the fantasy genre. Asides from his work on Game of Thrones (which earned him four Writers Guild Award nominations), he’s currently working on an adaptation of the fantasy card game Magic: The Gathering for Fox and an adaptation of the YA fantasy novel The False Prince for Paramount.
Disney won’t be the only company in Hollywood that’s looking at Arthurian legend for inspiration. Warner Bros will deliver its own take on the story with Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur, the first of a planned six-film franchise that stars Charlie Hunnam in the titular role and has Guy Ritchie in the director’s chair. That film will bow in theaters on July 22, 2016.
With the exception of maybe Maleficent and Into the Woods, this version of The Sword in the Stone could mark Disney’s first foray into straight-up fantasy since the first two Chronicles of Narnia films. Cogman’s resume also suggests something closer to Maleficent in tone (he did work on Game of Thrones, after all), as well as a possibility that the story will be played straight with no musical numbers (like with Pete’s Dragon).
Alas, this is the fourteenth film in Disney’s massive slate of live-action remakes. With this year’s D23 on the horizon, I have little doubt that we might get to know more about some of these films (or at least, the ones that have release dates attached).
The list goes as follows (including two sequels): The Jungle Book, Pete’s Dragon, Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland 2, Dumbo, Mulan, Winnie the Pooh, Pinocchio, Tink, Night on Bald Mountain, Maleficent 2, Prince Charming, Genies, and The Sword in the Stone.
What do you think? Are you interested in a live-action version of The Sword in the Stone?
Edited by: Kelly Conley
