Over the last few years, there appears to be an alarming new trend in blockbuster filmmaking — replacing directors mid-production. “Justice League,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” and the upcoming “Bohemian Rhapsody” have all switched filmmakers at various points in production, with a veil of secrecy over the exact reasons and what changes were made to the final product. For Disney’s “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” the studio definitely switched directors mid-way through production, but it appears there’s no contention at all between filmmakers Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston.
As we previously reported, Hallström and Johnston have somehow managed the rare feat of being listed as co-directors on ‘Nutcracker,’ despite not being a team or working on the project at the same time. And judging by the latest, and supposedly final, trailer for the film, it’s hard to tell if there’s going to be any way for audiences to notice the change. That is unlike previous films like the aforementioned “Justice League,” ‘Rogue One,’ and ‘Solo,’ where clear, and obvious, changes were made.
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” stars Mackenzie Foy as a young princess picked by an eye-patch-wearing Morgan Freeman to defend the titular realms from the evil of Mother Ginger, played by a scene-chewing Helen Mirren. Along the way, the young girl meets the Sugar Plum Fairy (Keira Knightley doing…something).
The film was originally directed by Hallström, but was later finished by Johnston after the former director was reportedly unable to return for reshoots. And since Johnston directed the reshoots, and was already ingrained in the film, Hallström allowed the director to finish the film through post-production. Either these two are the nicest guys around or Disney is just doing a bang-up job making it appear so.
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” hits theaters on November 2.
Here’s the official synopsis:
All Clara (Mackenzie Foy) wants is a key – a one-of-a-kind key that will unlock a box that holds a priceless gift. A golden thread, presented to her at godfather Drosselmeyer’s (Morgan Freeman) annual holiday party, leads her to the coveted key—which promptly disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. It’s there that Clara encounters a soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), a gang of mice and the regents who preside over three Realms: Land of Snowflakes, Land of Flowers and Land of Sweets. Clara and Phillip must brave the ominous Fourth Realm, home to the tyrant Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), to retrieve Clara’s key and hopefully return harmony to the unstable world. Starring Keira Knightley as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Disney’s new holiday feature film “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is directed by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston, and inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s classic tale.