Disney Converting Lion King to 3D

 

Disney is definitely on their way to becoming the top studio again. There are hundreds of projects they're working on, but two of them get some time in the spotlight today. Empire caught up with Disney producer Don Hahn, who directed the great Waking Sleeping Beauty documentary and is working on Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, and talked about a few different projects at Disney, since he still is working on other things besides telling the inside story of Disney. They're starting work on a 3D conversion of The Lion King as well.

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New 9 Trailer

9 is a computer animated film produced by Tim Burton (The Corpse Bride) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Nightwatch), directed by former WETA Digital artist Shane Acker, and featuring the music of Danny Elfman. Based on Acker’s Academy Award-nominated 2005 film festival short (watch it on YouTube), 9 is a post-apocalyptic nightmare in which all of humanity is threatened. The official plot synopsis follows:

“When 9 (Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they’ll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.”

The group includes 1 (Christopher Plummer), a domineering war veteran; 2 (Martin Landau), an aged inventor; 5 (John C. Reilly), a stalwart mechanic; 6 (Crispin Glover), a visionary and artist; and 7 (Jennifer Connelly), a brave warrior. I like Acker’s unique art style which could be described as a darker/post apocalyptic version of what Tim Burton use to do, with a touch of LittleBigPlanet. Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Watch the trailer in High Definition on Apple. 9 hits theaters on 9.9.09.

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 Rumors

Terry Rossio, co-screenwriter of the first three "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, has debunked the various rumors that are going around about Pirates of the Caribbean 4. They ranged from Johnny Depp getting $56 million for the fourth movie to Tim Burton directing to Sacha Baron Cohen and Russell Brand co-starring. Rossio writes:

For the record, none of the recent Pirates 4 rumors have any truth, including the so-called record 50 million dollar payday for Depp.

Some pretty funny stuff, though. Sacha Cohen? Tim Burton? Studios are way too protective of their franchises for that sort of thing.

The only thing that has been officially announced so far is that Johnny Depp will return as Captain Jack Sparrow in the fourth film.

First look at Alice in Wonderland

For those who didn't know, Tim Burton is directing a twisted remake of Disney's Alice in Wonderland, first announced in November last year. In addition to the news earlier this week that Johnny Depp would be playing the Mad Hatter in the film, INF Daily (via SlashFilm) has snapped the first few photos of young actress Mia Wasikowska on set in England. She is playing Burton's version of Alice and definitely looks like she fits the role. This film isn't set to hit theaters until sometime in 2010, but it's off to a strong start with a great cast and exciting first look photos like this. These may not be much to go off of, but I've got a good feeling these (and the Depp news) will jump start the early buzz on this movie.

Thanks again to INF Daily for posting these. The photos come from a set in Cornwall, England, where the film was shooting on a massive ship. You can see a lot more photos over on their site.

The script for Alice in Wonderland (which will be presented in 3D), obviously based on Lewis Carroll's classic novel, was penned by Disney writer Linda Woolverton (of Beauty and the Beast, Homeward Bound, and Lion King) and is being directed by Tim Burton himself. It's expected to be a visually stunning film that will combine performance-capture imagery, the kind you see in Beowulf, with live-action footage. My guess is that the oddball characters from the fairy tale, like the caterpillar and the rabbit and the Queen of Hearts, will be done in CG, while (obviously) Alice and the Mad Hatter will all be real actors. Even though I'm not a big fan of the story, this definitely looks good so far! Will this new Alice in Wonderland be the next Disney classic?