Disney+ Developing Disneyland Movie With Halloween's David Gordon Green
Fresh off of directing his second Halloween franchise movie and closing a deal to direct a new movie in The Exorcist series, filmmaker David Gordon Green has been tapped to helm a movie....about the construction of Disneyland? Deadline brings word that Green will direct the film for Disney Studios who will release the film on the Disney+ streaming platform. Screenwriter Evan Spiliotopoulos, who has a lot of experience in Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast, Pooh's Heffalump Movie, and others, will write the script. Cavalry Media has reportedly been working on the project for a year ahead of Disney giving it the greenlight.
Disneyland, dubbed the "Happiest Place on Earth," was like the ultimate passion project for the late Disney with work on the theme park starting in 1953 and the place eventually opening some two years later. The final name for the park emerged after Disney secured extra financing from ABC, showcasing the progress of construction in a TV show titled "Disneyland." Some of the attractions that were featured on opening day at Disneyland and which remain at the park are Jungle Cruise, King Arthur Carrousel, Mad Tea Party, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan's Flight, and Snow White's Enchanted Wish.
Disney Studios previously depicted a fictional version of real-life events with Walt Disney at the forefront with 2013's Saving Mr. Banks, a film about the development and making of Disney's live-action Mary Poppins movie. Oscar winner Tom Hanks previously played Disney in that film, but since these two projects aren't connected we shouldn't expect Hanks to return to the "part."
David Gordon Green's eclectic career as a filmmaker shouldn't make such a project on his plate a surprising one. In fact, prior to Halloween, as some of Green's movies as a director were based on or inspired by real events. The 2015 movie Our Brand Is Crisis, based on a 2005 documentary film, told a fictional version of the real-life story of political campaign strategy group Greenberg Carville Shrum and their involvement in a foreign election; while 2017's Stronger, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, told the story of Boston Marathon Bombing victim Jeff Bauman. Green was also previously attached to a new version of Friday Night Lights, itself having roots in the true story of high school football in a small Texas town.
It's only been in recent years and with the tremendous success of 2018's Halloween that Green has become entrenched in the world of horror. Halloween Kills, which he also directed, will debut in theaters this week with Halloween Ends scheduled to arrive next year, his The Exorcist movie set for the year after, and a Hellraiser TV series that he's attached to also in the works.