'Fantasia' Sequence to Get Live-Action Movie
One of the animated sequences in the 1940 Disney film "Fantasia" is becoming a live-action movie, according to reports. "Night on Bald Mountain" is being conceptualized into a full live-action movie, much like what Disney did with "Maleficent."
Disney has already identified writers who will develop the script for the movie. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless will expand the sequence into a full screenplay. They will also be the film's executive producers. Sazama and Sharpless, according The Hollywood Reporter, are a good fit for the dark fantasy because of their previous experience in films of the same genre.
The sequence shows a dark winged creature who raises spirits from the dead. Once released, these spirits are seen flying through the air and wreak havoc through the night. These spirits go away when the sun rises. This sequence is one of the eight sequences that made up the classic Disney film "Fantasia" which was well known not just for its animation, but also for its use of classical music. The music for the sequence was composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1867 and arranged by Leopold Stokowski for the film.
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According to the report, the film will be similar to what Disney did with "Maleficent," which introduced an interesting back story to the witch and also earned the studio a whopping $758.4 million worldwide in 2014.
The writing duo of Sazama and Sharpless worked on the screenplay of "Dracula Untold" which stars Luke Evans and is set to bow in theaters in October. They also worked with Cory Goodman for the screenplay of "The Last Witch Hunter" which will star Vin Diesel and also showing in October. Another film credited to them is the Gerard Butler-starrer "Gods of Egypt" which is set to be released in April 2016.
Disney is investing a lot in live-action adaptations of their animated classics, so this move is no surprise. "Cinderella" was a box office hit in 2015 and the studio has several other projects lined up, including "Beauty and the Beast," "Alice Through the Looking Glass," "The Jungle Book," "Mulan," "Dumbo," and "Tinker Bell."
