Disney, Movie News

Disney’s Film Production Chief Talks Pirates Reboot Without Johnny Depp And More

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”12093″ img_size=”620×320″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]We are currently in an era where all of our Disney classics are being reimagined into live-action reboots. From Aladdin to Dumbo, to Lion King (I know, not “live-action” per se), everything we grew up with in cartoon form is coming back for a new generation to enjoy. A lot of this has to do with Disney’s Film Production Chief, Sean Bailey, who sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about some of the upcoming projects and their plans.

“We want to continue taking swings at things that can, if we get them right, become new classics.”

One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation was that Disney is looking to reboot The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, without Johnny Depp. The actor, who has gotten into a bit of trouble within the past year or so; made the character of Jack Sparrow famous with his own personal flair on the character. Still, Bailey is looking to “kick it in the pants” so to speak when it comes to the franchise. Now, Geoffrey Rush has also gotten into some trouble, so Disney would really have to wipe the slate clean and completely recast and figure out how to revive the Pirates films, as we can all admit the third one was when it stopped being enjoyable.

Below is the interview, which you can originally find on The Hollywood Reporter:

The Lion King trailer suggests it is a shot-for-shot remake. True?

The Lion King is a revered and beloved movie, so you’d better revere and love those parts that the audience wants. But there are things in the movie that are going to be new. [And] it is a new form of filmmaking. Historical definitions don’t work. It uses some techniques that would traditionally be called animation, and other techniques that would traditionally be called live action. It is an evolution of the technology Jon used in Jungle Book.

You are almost done remaking the A-list classic animated movies. How deep into the library will Disney go?

I don’t know, because we might hear something that excites us. Take Maleficent. She was a character who cursed a baby because she didn’t get an invitation to a party, and we thought, “This is interesting.” We made a movie, and now we are making another movie. We will continue to play around in ways that I hope are interesting and unexpected.

Why has Disney had trouble launching original hits?

I think of “original” in an interesting way. One pretty esteemed filmmaker we work with said using IP is a better art of war. You take the high ground, rather than fight up the hill. And we’re making original movies for our streaming service. We wrapped Stargirl, directed by Julia Hart, last week in New Mexico. We’re shooting Togo, based on real-life events about a dog and an incredible rescue in Alaska. Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) is showing us his movie in the coming weeks called Timmy Failure, which is, again, from a book series. None of these are Disney canon or have ever been on the screen before.

How will the merger with Fox affect your division?

We’re going to keep doing what we do. I’m excited. I’ve been spending a fair amount of time with my soon-to-be colleagues, and they’re really impressive people. There is obviously a lot to be sorted out.

Does that mean you yourself are now involved in Avatar, or another Fox franchise?

I’m not. We like our own Disney slate a lot. And, as we talked about, we can make a broader range of movies and more movies because of the streaming service. I think we are going to be averaging a total of nine or 10 films [in theaters and streaming] a year.