Following Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and the upcoming Beauty And The Beast, Disney’s quest to recreate their classics in live action will continue with their Christopher Robin film. Having originally hired Alex Ross Perry to write the initial script, they have now turned to Tom McCarthy, who last year won Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards alongside Josh Singer for Spotlight.
The film is currently slated to be directed by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Stay, Quantum Of Solace), and will follow a grown up version of the Winnie the Pooh character who’s adult life has caused him to lose the joy he had as a young man. Pooh pays the adult Christopher Robin a visit to remind him of the magic of the Hundred Acre Wood.
Whether the world of Winnie The Pooh will work in a life action setting is up for debate, but people likely said the same about all three prior live action adaptations and they’ve turned out pretty well for Disney. They’ll certainly be hoping it becomes a slightly bigger hit than Piglet’s Big Movie or Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, though it’ll be pretty tough to top peak cinema such as that.
The Christopher Robin character was created in 1926, while Disney obtained the rights to all the Pooh characters in 1961. They’ll hope McCarthy can put the kind of stamp on the project that not only won him an Academy Award, but also created such personal, humble films like The Visitor and Win Win.
#Peace.Love.ChristopherRobin
