The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - It's not surprising that Disney and Walden Media would want to pursue adapting the other books in C.S. Lewis's best-selling fantasy series, after The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe became the second highest grossing film of 2005, the third highest grossing live action film domestically in Disney's history (behind Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Hollywood Pictures' The Sixth Sense) and the company's all-time #1 live action film worldwide. (It's since been surpassed by Pirates sequel Dead Man's Chest.) Caspian catches up with the four Pevensie children, who return to Narnia to find that one thousand years have passed since they left. They are again enlisted to join the magical world's colorful creatures in an effort to combat an evil villain preventing the rightful prince from ruling. On Groundhog Day 2006, Disney and Walden officially announced the commencement of preproduction on this sequel.

Wardrobe's director Andrew Adamson, composer Harry Gregson-Williams, and most of its principal cast are back for this follow-up. Returning actors include William Moseley (Peter), Anna Popplewell (Susan), Skandar Keynes (Edmund), Georgie Henley (Lucy), and Liam Neeson (as the voice of Aslan). Among the new additions is Ben Barnes, a 26-year-old English stage and film actor, who will portray the titular teen prince Caspian. Peter Dinklage, memorable as the demanding, petite author in Elf, has signed on to play Trumpkin the Dwarf. Spanish actress Alicia Borrachero (star of "Hospital Central", Spain's equivalent of "ER") has been cast as Prunaprismia, queen of Narnia and wife of the evil General Miraz (Italy's Sergio Castellitto), while Belgium's Vincent Grass will tackle the role of Doctor Cornelius. English comedian Eddie Izzard adds to his voiceover record by lending his vocals to Reepicheep the mouse.

Filming began February in New Zealand before moving to Prague and Slovenia for the brunt of photography. Originally planned for release on December 14, 2007, Caspian is now scheduled to reach theaters on May 16, 2008. In a January 2007 interview, Walden Media's Bob Beltz revealed that the third Narnia book -- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader -- has been greenlit for adaptation and that plans are in motion for this and The Silver Chair to film close enough to release one new Narnia film a year. Since then, Disney appears to have backed off those plans, delaying at least Treader while citing the demands of such a schedule on the young stars.


WALL•E - This ninth feature film from Pixar Animation Studios centers on WALL-E, the last little robot carrying out his duties on Earth. Those duties are essentially cleaning trash on the evacuated planet; the name stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class. WALL-E falls in love with EVE, a cold and clinical probe robot sent to check on Earth. There will be a paucity of dialogue in this outer space film. Like Star Wars' R2-D2, mechanical sounds are being used to resemble communication. Jeff Garlin ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") has the only speaking part among animated characters, while Fred Willard portrays Buy n Large CEO Shelby Forthright in a live-action role, a first for Pixar. Longtime Pixar writer Andrew Stanton is credited with the script and, for the first time since 2003's record-setting blockbuster Finding Nemo, directing. The film will open on June 27, 2008, with a DVD and Blu-ray release in early November.
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Beverly Hills Chihuahua - This live-action comedy tells of Chloe, a pampered California chihuahua dog (voiced by Drew Barrymore) who gets lost while on vacation in Mexico. She is helped by Delgado, a street-hardened German Shepherd (voiced by Andy Garcia) and Papi the amorous puppy (George Lopez) in a plot and structure that sounds derivative of Disney's 1993 Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. Also lending their voices to this film (once titled South of the Border) are Mexican-American actress Salma Hayek, Edward James Olmos, Cheech Marin, and Paul Rodriguez. Jamie Lee Curtis plays Aunt Viv and she is joined in the human cast by Piper Perabo and Nick Zano. The film is directed by Raja Gosnell, who has helmed such clunkers as Home Alone 3, Big Momma's House and the two live-action Scooby-Doo movies. He previously worked with Barrymore on her 1999 comedy Never Been Kissed. Beverly Hills Chihuahua is slated to open on September 26, 2008, the same weekend that worked well for the studio on last year's profitable lowbrow comedy The Game Plan.


Morning Light - This Disney documentary breaks the studio's 21st century streak of science subjects by focusing on the recruitment, training, and performance of a crew of young adults sailing in last July's 2007 Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Hawaii. The material is of personal interest to Roy E. Disney, who serves as Executive Producer. Co-directed by Mark Monroe and Paul Crowder (collaborators on Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who and Miramax's Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos), the film doesn't yet have a release date more specific than "Fall 2008", when it will surely receive limited distribution.


High School Musical 3: Senior Year - Between viewership highs, a best-selling soundtrack, and two well-received DVDs, the Disney Channel's original movie High School Musical broke all sorts of records. It was followed up by High School Musical 2, a mega-event when it debuted on the Disney Channel in August 2007 and strong DVD seller. Now, it's onto the big screen for this theatrical release announced in February 2007. The lead cast of Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman is returning in full. The original title (Haunted High School Musical) suggested a Halloween theme, but that has been dropped along with its connotations in favor of the more generic High School Musical 3, which was subsequently subtitled Senior Year. As such, Troy (Efron) and Gabriella (Hudgens) face the prospect of going in different directions, with surely plenty of flamboyant song and dance numbers. The film is still slated to open close to the autumnal holiday, on October 24, 2008. In typically rapid fashion, the movie will shoot from late April to mid-June. (Related Red Carpet Report: High School Musical 2 DVD Premiere in Hollywood, California)


Bolt (formerly known as American Dog) - This long-in-production film tells the story of Bolt, a canine TV star who bids farewell to a life of martinis and starlets when he winds up stranded in his trailer in the Nevada desert. There, the German Shepherd meets up with an oversized radioactive rabbit and a testy one-eyed cat a female cat named Mr. Mittens and a hamster who never leaves his exercise ball. Described as both "charming" and "twisted", the film has been in the works since 2004. It was expected to arrive in theaters some time in the fall of 2007, but a delay announced in November 2005 set Summer 2008 as a new anticipated release date. In December of 2006, it became known that the movie's writer Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch) had been dropped as director. Just days earlier, Disney executives had officially greenlit the film as Walt Disney Feature Animation's 2008 release. This computer-animated project is now in the hands of Chris Williams, a story artist on Mulan and The Emperor's New Groove. Voices have already been recorded from the likes of John Travolta, Thomas Haden Church, Woody Harrelson, Bernie Mac, Bruce Greenwood, and stand-up Mario Cantone. The latest anticipated release date is the day before Thanksgiving, November 26, 2008, in what is traditionally a very popular week for moviegoing.

Bedtime Stories - After departing "Saturday Night Live" in 1995, Adam Sandler became one of American cinema's leading men. By the end of the 1990s, Sandler had elevated himself to one of the box office's biggest comedic draws. Thirteen years have passed since Billy Madison established Sandler as the everyman slacker with a penchant for violent outbursts. Sandler remains today not only one of the few recent SNL alums with an active career beyond the sketch show, but also one of the few comedians who can guarantee a large theatrical turnout. He's weathered the occasional flop (Little Nicky, the animated Eight Crazy Nights), gained respect for his infrequent, under-attended dramatic turn (Punch-Drunk Love, Reign Over Me), and continues, on an annual basis, to make PG-13-rated comedies that easily surpass the $100 million mark domestically. In terms of reliability, his track record eclipses even that of formidable contemporaries Jim Carrey and Mike Myers.

With Bedtime Stories, Sandler returns to Disney for the first time since Touchstone Pictures' 1998 hit The Waterboy. This time, however, he's in a family domain with Walt Disney Pictures branding and sharing the screen with some of his youngest co-stars since Dylan and Cole Sprouse (Zack and Cody to Disney Channel audiences today) in his career high grosser, Big Daddy. Sander will play a busy architect whose life turns upside down when the crazy bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew begin coming true. Keri Russell will co-star, presumably as the requisite love interest, as will "Xena" star Lucy Lawless, Teresa Palmer, and Russell Brand. Adam Shankman (The Pacifier, Hairspray) is directing from the debut screenplay of Matt Lopez, who previously contributed story material to Disney's The Wild. The $80-million-budgeted Bedtime Stories has been scheduled for a December 25, 2008 opening, with Disney presumably hoping for the same kind of smashing Christmas break business that Night at the Museum did for Fox, when fellow PG-13 comedian Ben Stiller stepped into effects-heavy family fantasy/comedy territory.

Disney Films for 2009 and beyond


Race to Witch Mountain - File this one in the "Terrible Ideas" category. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and his Game Plan director Andy Fickman reunite in what's being called an "action thriller" remake of the fondly-remembered 1975 Disney fantasy Escape to Witch Mountain. Johnson will play a Las Vegas cab driver who picks up two young siblings with paranormal powers, played by Bridge to Terabithia's AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig (The Seeker: The Dark is Rising). Ciaran Hinds will co-star as the leader of a group set to hunt down the kids. Bedtime Stories writer Matt Lopez is credited with the screenplay, which is traced back to Alexander Key's 1968 novel. With production set to commence imminently, this film is scheduled to open on March 13, 2009.

Old Dogs - After directing the illogically popular Wild Hogs, Walt Becker is staying at Disney with John Travolta. Travolta and funnyman Robin Williams will play friends and business partners whose "lives are turned upside down" when strange circumstances place them in the care of 7-year-old twins. Travolta's wife Kelly Preston, Matt Dillon, Seth Green, Bernie Mac, Dax Shepard, Lori Loughlin, and Rita Wilson are all also reportedly part of the noteworthy cast. The script is credited to David Diamond and David Weissman, the duo behind The Family Man, Ivan Reitman's Evolution, and the Disney Channel original movie Minutemen. Though it was filmed in the summer and fall of 2007, the film is not scheduled to open until April 10, 2009. It is not yet clear if this broad comedy will be released under the Disney or Touchstone banner.

The Hannah Montana Movie - As long as the general public can't get enough of all things Hannah Montana, neither can Disney. What originated as a hokily-conceived low-budget sitcom has become one of the company's biggest money-makers, raking in cash in a variety of platforms, including 2008's 3-D concert film. Following on the heels of High School Musical 3 and The Lizzie McGuire Movie, this eponymous film will be closer to the Disney Channel TV series, as it follows Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) and her two close friends (Mitchel Musso, Emily Osment), father (Billy Ray Cyrus), and brother (Jason Earles) to Tennessee, where filming will soon begin. Beyond that and casting calls for specific parts (like a teenaged male love interest and ethnically diverse adults), the plot remains unknown, though a May 1, 2009 theatrical release is scheduled. The production is causing Miley Cyrus to miss her 2008 prom. Oh well, the 15-year-old girl made $18.2 million last year. I think she'll be okay.

Up - As usual, Pixar Animation Studios has kept a tight lip with regards to information on this, the studio's 10th feature film. Monsters, Inc. writer/director Pete Docter will be in the helm for this "Don Quixote-esque" movie that will open in the summer between those of WALL-E and Toy Story 3. Co-directing and writing the script is Finding Nemo writer/Monsters story supervisor Bob Peterson. The movie centers on Carl Fredricksen, a 78-year-old man who has put off his dreams of exploring the globe his entire life. A twist of fate and the arrival of Russell, an 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer, gives Carl a new lease on life as the boy and elderly man embark on a thrilling journey in which they encounter wild terrain, unexpected villains, and jungle creatures. The studio-provided synopsis sounds vaguely reminiscent of The Emperor's New Groove, with the odd couple being more distant but at least in the same species. Not to be confused with the 1976 Russ Meyer/Roger Ebert film of the same name, Up is slated to open May 29, 2009 with select engagements boasting Disney Digital 3-D technology (and the premium ticket prices it commands). It will likely follow earlier Pixar works to an early November DVD and Blu-ray release.


Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - On the heels of their record-breaking Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Jerry Bruckheimer and Walt Disney Pictures are collaborating not just on a National Treasure follow-up but also a new film series based on the popular Prince of Persia video game series. Debuted in 1989 for the Apple II, Prince of Persia was then quickly developed for IBM PCs, the Atari ST, Nintendo and Sega's third-generation systems, and Game Boy. Sequels followed in the 1990s and in the fall of 2003, the franchise gained new life when Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was made available on PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and Windows computers. Subsequent adventures have premiered in the two following holiday seasons. From the title, it would appear that Bruckheimer's first adaptation would be based on merely 2003's game and would be the first of three installments made. Originally pegged for a late 2008 release, this film -- which will be directed by Michael Bay (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Transformers) -- will now open June 19, 2009.

If it remains true to the video game, Sands of Time follows the Prince of Persia, his father King Sharaman, and the Maharajah's daughter Princess Farah in a trek across India to Azad. Along their way, their potent, newly-acquired possesions (a giant hourglass full of sand and a mysterious dagger) make them the targets of a dying Vizier and his staff. Romantic relationships, time warps, and twisted allegiances all figure into what unravels and most of that is sure to translate to the type of sweeping, spectacle cinema that Bruckheimer has repeatedly relied on with success.

G-Force - Jerry Bruckheimer has provided the Walt Disney Company with more hits and franchises than any other producer. That doesn't mean that this project (penned by The Wibberleys of National Treasure fame) sounds like a certain success. Marking the feature directorial debut for longtime visual effects man Hoyt Yeatman, G-Force will tell of a team of specially-trained rodents dispatched to stop a diabolical billionaire from taking over the world with household appliances. Those attached to voice the CG-animated genetically-enhanced, government agency commandoes: Bruckheimer's go-to leading man Nicolas Cage (as Speckles the mole), Penelope Cruz (Juarez the guinea pig), "30 Rock"'s Tracy Morgan (Blaster the guinea pig), and Steve Buscemi (Bucky the hamster). Those appearing in live-action roles will include Zach Galifianakis (as the scientist supervisor), Kelli Garner, Gabriel Casseus, Jack Conley, folk singer-actor Loudon Wainwright III, Bill Nighy, and Will Arnett. After briefly assuming the delayed third Narnia film's May release date, G-Force is now scheduled to open on July 24, 2009 in theaters, at least some of which will exhibit the film in 3-D.

A Christmas Carol - From musicals and Mr. Magoo to Mickey Mouse and the Muppets, it seems like Charles Dickens' immortal 1843 novella has been adapted ad nauseam. But many of the film versions of A Christmas Carol have either been made for television (like the Patrick Stewart-headlined 1999 TNT production) or offered a twist on the subject (like the brilliant Scrooged's translocation to a contemporary New York TV network). Walt Disney Pictures' newest version, scheduled for release on November 6, 2009, won't do either of those things. It apparently will be a straight retelling of the ghostly holiday tale, done by director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) and the motion capture technique he used on The Polar Express and Beowulf that converts and elaborates on live-action performances with three-dimensional computer animation. Comedian Jim Carrey will play multiple roles, simultaneously calling to mind his over-the-top work in Ron Howard's sour 2000 How the Grinch Stole Christmas, his assorted disguises in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Tom Hanks' various personas in Polar Express. Joining him in the voice/motion capture cast are Bob Hoskins (star of Zemeckis' first mixed-medium blockbuster Who Framed Roger Rabbit), The Princess Bride's Cary Elwes and Robin Wright (Penn?), Colin Firth (Bridget Jones' Diary), and British chameleon Gary Oldman.

Disney doubtlessly must be excited about this film. They'd have to look long and hard for a person not at all affected by Dickens' book. Modern audiences might be plenty familiar with the tale, but there hasn't been a major feature film doing a straight adaptation since the 1970 musical starring Albert Finney and Alec Guinness. A quick look at the performances of the director and star's works this decade promises high attendance; though it started sluggish, Polar Express went onto become one of 2004's highest-grossers (and remains the benchmark for motion capture), while the live-action Grinch easily ranks as the biggest earner in Carrey's robust career. The two films maintain the highest grosses among Christmas-themed movies, a class that rarely fails to turn a profit. Add to this Disney's long string of success with heavily-promoted November openings, and you'll see that only a tremendous fumble will keep this film from becoming a colossal worldwide blockbuster, whether it's any good or, like Grinch and Polar, not. Filming began early in 2008. This will be one of a number of 2009 releases treated to showings in Disney Digital 3-D.

Alice in Wonderland - Tim Burton practically started his movie career at Disney. In his early twenties, he worked on The Fox and the Hound before helming the short films Vincent and Frankenweenie. He went onto bigger and, many would argue, better things, earning a reputation for dark, imaginative works like Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and two blockbuster Batman movies. In the early 1990s, Burton returned to Disney to produce The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is one of the best examples of a modern day cult classic. Soon after, he would also helm the Oscar-winning Ed Wood for Touchstone Pictures. In the years since, Burton has remained a free agent, moving from studio to studio, switching mediums and genres, but always retaining creative control and a distinctive style.

In November of 2007, Burton signed a deal to direct two Disney Digital 3-D projects. First up is a live-action/motion-capture/CGI adaptation of Lewis Carroll's most famous story. It seems like an apt fit, based on the trippy source material and Burton's penchant for trippy material. Of course, Disney fans will be judging the project next to Walt Disney's 1951 animated film, which today is regarded highly. There has been no news on the project yet, but Disney has pegged the film for a March 5, 2010 release.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Disney and Walden continue to follow the published order of C.S. Lewis's best-selling fantasy novels. This third book, first published in 1952, comes fifth chronologically and sees the two youngest Pevensie children, Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) joining nerdy cousin Eustace Scrubb for a holiday. The three of them are pulled into Narnia through a painting, ending up on the ship Dawn Treader with Lucy and Edmund's royal pal, Caspian (Ben Barnes). The four of them embark on a series of adventures in travelling to a number of Narnian islands.

Michael Apted (Gorillas in the Mist, The World is Not Enough, and television's renowned "Up" documentaries) will direct, taking over from Andrew Adamson, who will stay on as a producer. It is unclear if William Moseley and Anna Popplewell will be re-enlisted to portray the elder Pevensie children, who do not appear in the Voyage book. The film was scheduled to open in May of 2009, but was pushed back an entire year, with the new release date being May 7, 2010. Production will start summer of 2008 in Australia and New Zealand.


Toy Story 3 - Few films can boast the guaranteed box office success of this project, once a major factor in the Disney/Pixar contract negotations. In the 12½ years since the original Toy Story reached theaters as the first all-CGI film, the animation industry has moved almost exclusively to the domain of computers. 2006's crop of films found a glut of CG-animated works from new players in addition to output from established studios like DreamWorks and Blue Sky. Pixar nevertheless proved that the pioneers have remained well ahead of the learning curve: though their summer release Cars didn't quite match past productions in box office earnings and critical favor, it still outdid all of its competition, from Blue Sky's Ice Age: The Meltdown to DreamWorks' Over the Hedge to Sony's Monster House, in terms of those two criteria, making it a frontrunner for next week's Best Animated Feature Oscar.

As you doubtlessly know by now, the Walt Disney Company purchased Pixar in 2006, which put this project back in the hands of the people who created the 1995 masterpiece and its blockbuster 1999 sequel. Disney had earlier announced plans (i.e., made threats) to move forth with a Toy Story 3 using its newly-formed Circle 7 Animation division, a script by Meet the Fockers writer James Herzfeld, and director Darrell Rooney (who helmed Lady and the Tramp, The Lion King, and Mulan...sequels). After the acquisition, Pixar executive John Lasseter, given new power at Disney Feature Animation, saw to it that Circle 7 was closed and the ball was back in the creators' court. Though many assumed the busy Lasseter would step back into the director's chair he claimed on the first two Toy Story films, in February 2007, it was announced that longtime Pixar editor and Toy Story 2 co-director Lee Unkrich would single-handedly be helming the film, from a script by Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine). To date, no other specifics have been issued by Disney-Pixar, which isn't too surprising since Pixar has long been mum on upcoming projects while pushing ahead at a proposed one-film-per-summer rate. We won't see the Buzz-is-recalled-to-Asia plotline that Disney was not long ago touting as its core. In February of 2008, the Wall Street Journal revealed that Pixar's storyline will find Woody and his toy-box friends dumped in a day-care center after their owner Andy leaves for college.

One of the most reliable sources for Toy Story sequel news has been Tim Allen, a longtime Disney regular who has confirmed he'll be reprising his role of once-deluded space ranger action figure Buzz Lightyear in a follow-up he claims "is going to be great." Tom Hanks is also on board to again voice pullstring cowboy Woody. Other likely returning cast members? John Ratzenberger as know-it-all piggy bank Hamm, Wallace Shawn as nervous dinosaur Rex, Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head, Joan Cusack as the energetic cowgirl Jessie, Annie Potts as the porcelain Bo Peep, R. Lee Ermey as the authoritative Sarge, and Laurie Metcalf as Andy's Mom. At least two parts will need to either be written out or recast in light of the premature deaths of Jim Varney (Slinky Dog) and Joe Ranft (Wheezy the Penguin).

While the usual four-year-production period can be somehwat shortened due to the fact that all existing characters are already modeled and in Pixar's computers, the release is still distant. The release date has been tentatively set as June 18, 2010. In the months leading up to the film's debut, the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2 will be re-released in Disney Digital 3-D on October 2,2009 and February 12, 2010, respectively.

Related Reviews: Toy Story: 10th Anniversary DVD • Toy Story 2: 2-Disc Special Edition DVD

Rapunzel - Certain films attract buzz from an early stage. Often these projects hold a best-selling book as a source or carry a world famous superhero in the title. This computer-animated project doesn't quite fit either of those requirements, but Disney fans have been excited by it for years, even though it has been repeatedly bumped and always off in the distance. Longtime A-list Disney animator Glen Keane (supervising animator of such protagonists as Ariel, Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Tarzan) simultaneously makes his directorial and CGI debuts in this new take on the classic fairy tale of a long-haired princess and her valiant prince. Here, a frustrated witch brings two romantically-challenged teenagers from the real world into that of the story, casting them as Rapunzel and her prince. Broadway veteran Kristin Chenoweth (who starred in the Wonderful World of Disney musicals Annie and The Music Man) will voice Rapunzel, while another stage actor (Dan Fogler) will lend his vocals to the prince. Although estimated releases have seemingly changed with the years, recent plans pinned this for summer 2009 release. Though that still gives it plenty of time to stay on schedule, it hasn't yet been given a firm date alongside other Disney tentpoles.

The Princess and the Frog - This currently in development fairy tale is being closely watched for it is said to represent Disney's first 2D-animated feature since 2004's Home on the Range. Ron Clements and John Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin) are writing and directing what is said to be a musical set in 1920s New Orleans. The lead characters are said to include 19-year-old heroine Tiana (voiced by Dreamgirls' Anika Noni Rose); Charlotte La Bouff, a spoiled 18-year-old southern debutante (Broadway veteran Jennifer Cody); villain Dr. Facilier, a voodoo magician ("Gargoyles" star Keith David); and Mama Odie, a 200-year-old voodoo priest (Jenifer Lewis). In a departure from the norm, three of the four are African American characters. Though Alan Menken was originally pegged to handle the film's music, Pixar veteran Randy Newman is now said to hold this command. No release date has been set, but traditionally animated films have traditionally taken about four years from first news to reaching the big screen, making this unlikely to show up until 2010 at the earliest.

Swiss Family Robinson (remake) - Mandeville Films had hoped to start shooting this new adaptation of Johann Wyss's classic book early in 2006 after wrapping production on The Shaggy Dog remake. Then, hired director Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3, U-571) pushed things back for Tonight, He Comes, a superhero mid-life crisis movie starring Will Smith. Mostow has since left that Sony project (eventually called Hancock), giving Swiss the go-ahead to proceed. While attempts were made to modernize the story (perhaps like the Wonderful World of Disney's 1998 telemovie Beverly Hills Family Robinson?), the script by Greg Poirier ultimately kept the 19th century period setting as it was employed for Disney's popular 1960 filming of the same text. Mostow is also to rework Poirier's script with writing partner Sam Montgomery. No confirmed casting has been announced, but news in July 2005 stated that Lindsay Lohan was reportedly in talks to unite with Disney (for a sixth time) and presumably play "Bertie", the cute castaway who catches the eyes of two Robinson brothers. That seems pretty certain not to happen at the present. A release date has yet to be set and filming schedules have been repeatedly pushed back, leaving this in production limbo.

Jungle Cruise - On the heels of big screen adventures Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion comes this latest film inspired by a Disneyland attraction. Described as a family version of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, this comedy/adventure will follow a group which travels upriver to find a cure. Originally said to have a screenplay written by Josh Goldstein and John Norville (Tin Cup), this Disney/Mandeville production is now reportedly going forth with a script commissioned of Al Gough and Miles Millar, the executive producers of TV's "Smallville". The only plot specific released is that the film will be set sometime in the 20th century. Originally slated to start shooting early in 2006, this has since been delayed again and again, with even 2009 release looking unlikely.

Kiki's Delivery Service - A live action English language adaptation of Eiko Kadani's book series, which was previously brought to the screen in Hayao Miyazaki's popular late-'80s anime film of the same name. Jeff Stockwell (Bridge to Terabithia, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys) is said to be developing a screenplay, but news has been sparse.

The Banshee and Fin Magee (Originally titled The Banshee) - Dean DeBlois, co-writer and co-director of Lilo & Stitch, tries his hand at live action with this period ghost story set in Ireland. In writer-director-producer DeBlois's own words, "It's the story of a little boy who is ignored by the world and pretends to be a ghost, who (then) comes into contact with a real ghost." DeBlois claims this "story of friendship, love and loss" is aimed at the Harry Potter audience; he hopes older kids will enjoy this supernatural mystery. Production was supposed to begin spring 2005, but as of now, nothing has been shot and there is no firm release date yet set. In February 2006, it was reported that Robert Nelson Jacobs has been hired to rewrite DeBlois' script. Jacobs was Oscar-nominated for his Chocolat screenplay, but got fewer raves for his work on Dinosaur, Out to Sea, and The Shipping News.

Frankenweenie - After tackling Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton's second 3-D film for Disney will be a feature-length version of his 1984 live-action short starring Shelley Duvall, Daniel Stern, and Barret Oliver. Ironically, that half-hour short got Burton fired for wasting company resources and it was shelved for years. Twenty-five years later, Burton is considered a genius and his Nightmare Before Christmas (the out-of-print DVD of which housed the original Frankenweenie) is treated to annual 3-D theatrical re-releases. The original short centered on a boy named Victor who tries to bring his movie subject dog Sparky back to life with help from lightning. This probably won't be done any sooner than 2011.