‘Space Mountain’ Live-Action Movie in the Works at Disney
Disney is developing a live-action “Space Mountain” movie as part of the studio’s latest effort to expand its universe of films about its venerable theme park rides.
The studio has tapped Joby Harold, whose credits include “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” and Zack Snyder’s upcoming “Army of the Dead,” to write the script and produce with spouse Tory Tunnell and their Safehouse Pictures banner. Rideback, headed by Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, is also producing.
Harold is currently writing and executive producing the Obi-Wan Kenobi “Star Wars” series for Disney Plus and executive produced “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.”
Space Mountain, an indoor roller coaster set in outer space, was unveiled at Florida’s Walt Disney World Resort in 1975 as a follow-up to the Matterhorn bobsled ride at Disneyland. The ride was an immediate success and followed by installations at Disneyland in 1977 and three other Disney theme parks.
Disney confirmed the project on Friday, six weeks after announcing a new “Haunted Mansion” live-action movie, based on its 51-year-old Disneyland theme park ride. Lin and Eirich, who teamed on Disney’s live-action “Aladdin” movie last year, are also producing “The Haunted Mansion.” Disney used the ride as inspiration for its 2003 horror comedy “The Haunted Mansion,” with Eddie Murphy portraying a workaholic realtor who buys a mansion that turns out to be haunted.
Disney saw enormous success from its theme park ride Pirates of the Caribbean, which opened in 1967 at Disneyland and arrived on the big screen in 2003. The five “Pirates” movies, all starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, grossed $1.5 billion domestically and $3.07 billion internationally cumulatively.
Disney also released the 2002 family comedy “Country Bears,” based on the Disneyland attraction. The studio has wrapped “Jungle Cruise,” based on the Disneyland ride, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. The movie is due out on July 30, 2021 — a year after its original release date, which was scrubbed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Harold is repped by Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment and Goodman Genow.
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