Lacey Bridges
Nope too early for a Donald Trump biopic.
Instead, Hollywood heavyweights Tom Hanks and Will Smith are being courted by Disney to headline the forthcoming live-action “Dumbo” film.
The trend to turn classic animated movies into live-action films is all Jon Favreau’s fault – his human-led take on “The Jungle Book” scoring sumly amounts at the box office. By the same token, the earlier “Maleficent” movie also helped furnish the floors of a few new buildings at Disney, too.
“Dumbo”, like the upcoming “Beauty and the Beast”, “Mulan” and “Aladdin”, will feature a combo of A-list human and i-list CGI effects.
Smith, fresh from Razzies fave “Suicide Squad”, would play the father of the children who bond with the elephant. Hanks, who fronted Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks”, playing Walt Disney himself a couple of years ago, would be the villain.
Smith, having made some truly rotten choices of late (“Collateral Beauty” is a huge misfire), will no doubt accept the offer. He needs a hit – and both the third “Bad Boys” film, which he’s set to shoot later in the year, and a live-action version of “Dumbo” should help in that plan. Hanks, while still a credible name, could also do with another hit, with “Inferno” not doing the numbers he likely expected it to.
Question is, will we soon have fatigue – like so many have with comic book movies and found-footage movies – from live-action adaptations of Disney movies? Or is that a question I need to ask again when “All Dogs Go to Heaven” with Ryan Gosling is released?
