Eric Charbonneau/Le Studio/Wireimage
-
Entertainment
Photos
-
Entertainment
Photos
-
Entertainment
Photos
Question: How long will Disney be able pull ideas from its own well of corporate franchises?
Answer: To infinity and beyond!
Latest case in point: Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, already famously-paired in the Toy Story franchise, will co-star in a new Disney movie based on the Magic Kingdom's "Jungle Cruise" ride. In the movie, Hanks plays a family man and Allen plays a boat captain (who, just to be clear, is NOT also Santa Claus).
The Disney playbook from which this idea leaped -- movies based on Disney rides and attractions -- has been opened many times before. Witness:
* The Haunted Mansion (not just the 2003 Eddie Murphy version, but an upcoming darker version from Guillermo Del Toro).
* Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man's Chest, At World’s End, and the upcoming On Stranger Tides (coming in 3D on May 20).
* The Country Bears
* Tower of Terror
* Mission to Mars
Forgot about (or never heard of) those last three? Don't expect the Jungle Cruise movie to fall into the same black hole.
No other Disney theme park attractions seem to have reached the top of a movie producer's pile, but can't you envision envision "Space Mountain" starring Dwayne Johnson and "It's a Small World" with Martin Short? Let's just veto a musical version of "The Hall of Presidents," please.
