So, Disney has paid “The Devil Wears Prada” screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna a ridiculously high seven figures to write a live-action version of “Cinderella.” McKenna’s been in the news a lot today. Cameron Crowe just signed on to direct her adaptation of “We Bought A Zoo,” and while he’s rewriting it, she’ll likely get the top billing and screenplay credit (she also has an untitled J.J. Abrams project in the works set up under his Bad Robot shingle).
While she pitched it to Disney (and not the other way around), we’re not surprised at all that the studio is jumping on this considering the staggering amount of money the live-action version of Tim Burton’s “Alice In Wonderland” made (it’s still a shock to the system; while “Avatar” isn’t the best movie of all time, it’s Shakespeare tome in comparison to Burton’s last picture). Will this version be in 3D? We would assume so.
With Burton’s flick grossing an astounding $980 million so far, McKenna’s pitch probably had to only amount to, “Live-action version of Cinderella, bettcha never thought of that, ca’ching!” and Disney probably would have salivated at the mouth and rolled over to have their belly rubbed.
And no, don’t worry (or anticipate it), Scarlett Johansson is not attached. The above photo is just a shot from Annie Leibovitz’s Disney dream portrait series which appeared in Vanity Fair in 2008, however with every new cash cow opportunity comes the potential for exploitation.
So, we might as well expect every property in that shoot (and anything under Disney’s domain, really), “Snow White,” “Pocahontas,” “Peter Pan” and “Sleeping Beauty” to get the live-action treatment too (yes, in some cases these ideas would technically be remakes). Oh and “Sleeping Beauty” is already in the works possibly to be directed by Tim Burton starring Angelina Jolie (a slightly different take called, “Maleficent”).
We say, if they’re gonna go this route, will Disney greenlight, “Snow and the Seven,” the kung-fu styled Snow White live-action film that was written by celebrated author Michael Chabon and was to be directed by “Matrix” trilogy, “Kill Bill” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping? Control your wet dreams nerds, that was announced in 2005 and obviously since we’ve barely heard a peep since, it’s likely been deep-sixed or forgotten. Plus that sounds too cool and MOR adaptations like Burton’s are probably more up Disney’s alley.