With Beauty and the Beast smashing the box office at $425 million with promise of more to come, it’s clear to almost everyone watching that the live action remakes are successful. But with every success, there’s also a question that follows: what’s next?
1) PRINCESS AND THE FROG
‘Princess and the Frog ‘ wasn’t the instantly loved classic we all expect from Disney, it wasn’t a bad movie – in fact, I considered it underrated: it had brilliant visual effects, an entertaining story and one of the most refreshing additions to the Princess lineup since Mulan. It just happened to be produced in a time where nobody was that interested in hand-drawn animation.
By making it a live action remake, it would erase its major criticism. With a slightly rework of the plot and more depth given to the characters (looking at you, Cinderella), it would give ‘Princess and the Frog’ a real chance to become one of the more memorable movies. It certainly has the visual effects already down.
2) ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE
‘Atlantis’ was widely considered to be one of Disney’s mediocre efforts, and its darker tone being a huge diversion from what we can come to expect from usual Disney picks. It might be this reason it was one of Disney’s lowest box-office draws, and one of its biggest flops.
But still, over the years it’s managed to gain a small, cult following and deserves to be revisited, even as a concept. It’s universally known that Disney doesn’t do Sci-Fi well (for example Tron, Tomorrow Land, John Carter), but this could be turn-around. With a decent script and a large budget, Atlantis has the potential to rival all of the upcoming Star Wars movies.
3) SLEEPING BEAUTY
Sleeping Beauty was already (technically) remade for Maleficent in 2014, but I’m talking about a true, complete remake of the original, keeping the focusing on Aurora herself.
This should be an easy pitch: well-received original movie, opportunity to use excellent visual effects, and an easy way to update one of the beloved classics. It also has so much room to develop: you can set it in the modern world or a classical one – a choice between Game of Thrones, or Lord of the Rings. It’s a win-win situation here.
4) TREASURE PLANET
Treasure Planet was such an unfortunate movie. It had an off-putting art design to some people, was outside Disney’s comfort zone, and it was decided to share its debut with Harry Potter. It’s no wonder that it’s one of Disney’s flops, considering that.
But still, if you have watched it, you know it’s a strange, little movie that could be really, really great – if given the same time and attention as other movies. As fatigue starts to show in Disney’s ‘Pirates’ series, it would be good to reprise it in ‘Treasure Planet’, as it has all the science-fiction, future and pirate elements that you would never believe actually got produced, let alone by Disney.
It honestly deserves a second chance. Trust me on this.
5) THE LITTLE MERMAID
To be honest, this one is such an obvious idea I had to check that there wasn’t already a remake in the running (it’s still the conception stage).
But, the Little Mermaid remains one of the most beloved Disney movies even today, despite coming out over 25 years ago. It might be because of the music, the story, or the charm, but all together, the Little Mermaid remains one of Disney’s biggest hits, and it’s a wonder why they haven’t succeeded in remaking it yet.
After all, there is already the built-in audience, and there is enough room in the film to develop characters or plot points. And really, who wouldn’t want to see a live-action remake of the final battle between Ursula? Nobody. It would be as anticipated as the finale of Game of Thrones.
Any other movies that I forgot? Be sure to comment below!
Edited by Nicole Swain
Sources:
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