More fallout today from the Disney/Fox merger. DirectorWes Ball(The Maze Runner) was all set up to makeMouse Guardhis next big-screen project withAndySerkis(Planet of the Apesfranchise) andThomasBrodie-Sangster(Game of Thrones) on board to lead the cast. The motion-capture / performance-capture animated adaptation of writer-illustratorDavid Petersen‘s comics was set to start production early this May with Fox set up to distribute. Everything was in place. But then the Disney/Fox merger went through andMouse Guardgot the ax.
THRreports that Disney has shut down its newly acquired / former Fox property, but will allow producers, includingMatt Reeves,Ross Ritchie, andStephen Christy, to shop the project elsewhere. (How kind of them.) It remains to be see if the cast, which also includedIdris ElbaandSamson Kayo, withJack Whitehallcircling a role, and VFX shop WETA will still be involved in the production, if and when it gets off the ground. Since the project is good to go as is, other studios are apparently interested, including Netflix, where Reeves has a production deal and where Serkis had hisMowglimovie set up, and Paramount, whereWyck Godfrey(The MazeRunnermovies) is the current president of motion pictures. For my money,Mouse Guardwould be an awesome property for LAIKA Studios, the stop-motion animation studio which recently launched the original feature,Missing Link. This “Game of Throneswith mice” property could be a standout acquisition for LAIKA and a perfect fit for their animation style, while offering something they’ve not yet been able to enjoy: A franchise.
But why the cancellation in the first place? Reports vary. Some say that theMouse Guard’s motion-captured performance production was too close to Disney’s own productions likeThe Lion KingandThe Jungle Book, but what’s less clear is why exactly that would be a problem. It’s likely more about dollars and cents. ApparentlyMouse Guardwas budgeted at around $170 million, a pricey pic for an unproven commodity and something Disney doesn’t want its new acquisition messing around with. (That number sounds rather inflated to us, but that’s the figure reported by THR at the moment.) Instead, the focus is on lower-cost family movies and both PG-13 and R-rated fare. The report goes on to suggest that the only big-budget properties the Fox division will be tackling are in theAvatarbrand for now, surefire billion-dollar earners. It really just came down to a business decision. Here’s hopingMouse Guardfinds a home and does bang-up business somewhere else forsomeoneelse who’s willing to take that chance.
For more onMouse Guard, be sure to get caught up with the links below, and stay tuned for more as it develops:
