Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec Scripting ‘Space Mountain’ Movie For Disney

Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec (Citadel) have been tapped to script a live-action Space Mountain movie for Disney, Deadline can confirm.

While details as to the plot of the film are under wraps, it’s based on the theme park attraction first introduced to Disneyland on January 15, 1975. Jonathan Eirich will produce for Rideback, alongside Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell for Safehouse, with Rideback’s Ryan Halprin is exec producing. Harold also completed a previous draft of the script.

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One of Disney’s most iconic and beloved attractions, Space Mountain marked a significant milestone as the world’s first indoor, fully enclosed roller coaster. Designed by Imagineer John Hench and built by WED Enterprises, now known as Walt Disney Imagineering, its concept originated in the 1960s during the space race era, with Walt Disney himself expressing interest in creating a space-themed attraction. After its successful launch in Disneyland, Space Mountain quickly became a staple attraction in other Disney parks worldwide, including Walt Disney World in Florida, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland.

Known for their work on series like Citadel and Cowboy Bebop, Appelbaum and Nemec have also previously scripted Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, a pair of live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films for Paramount, and other feature projects.

Certainly, Space Mountain isn’t the only Disney film to have drawn inspiration from a theme park ride. Previously making a major franchise out of Pirates of the Carribean, the studio last year enlisted Bert & Bertie to direct a Big Thunder Mountain movie, to be produced by LuckyChap and Scott Free, as we were first to report.

News of the scribes set for Space Mountain was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

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