These days it feels like there’s always another Disney remake on the way, but lately there’s been some evidence of the studio pulling back on these projects. I just learned that one project that’s been reportedly on the way for a long time isn’t happening anymore. I think in this case, though, it might be for the best that this won’t be one of the upcoming Disney movies.
Robin Hood Remake No Longer In The Works At Disney
Back in 2020, when Walt Disney Studios was on a roll with its live-action remakes (coming off of Aladdin and The Lion King making over $1 billion each), it was reported that a remake for Robin Hood was in the works. The movie would stay in the spirit of the 1973 classic by implementing live-action/CG hybrid technology we’d seen from the studio’s recent releases.
At the time, Kari Granlund, the writer of the Lady and the Tramp remake, was penning the script, and Blindspotting director Carlos López Estrada was going to take the helm. However, when Estrada took to Reddit to answer fan questions this week, he said this of the Robin Hood remake:
[I]ts dead sadly. I say sadly because I actually thought there was something really special (and original!) there. Some truly extraordinary music we had figured out for it.
Considering we hadn’t heard much about Disney’s Robin Hood remake since its initial announcement five years ago, this update isn’t a total shocker. Still, it sounds like Estrada was really looking forward to bringing the king of thieves back to life for the House of Mouse. Instead, Estrada has primarily placed his focus on Walt Disney Animation projects like Raya and the Last Dragon and Wish, along with directing a slew of music videos over the years for artists, like Katy Perry and Blink-182.
Why I Totally Get Why Disney Might Have Passed On This
The cancelled Robin Hood remake was going to emulate the 1973 original, where the titular character would have been a fox, Little John would be a bear, and so forth. I’ll be honest, after seeing a variety of Disney remakes with talking animals, I’m just not sure this concept would have worked. It’s also sure hard to beat the hand-drawn animation from the original, not to mention the slew of Robin Hood attempts made by Hollywood in recent years that have come and gone without any fanfare. I’m thinking that maybe Disney dodged a bullet here.
Right now, we’re at an interesting time for Disney remakes. They’ve been a mixed bag of results at the studio, with last year’s Lilo & Stitch being a big win, and Snow White being a flop, for example. This summer, a live-action Moana movie is on the way, and Disney is currently getting ready to go into production on the Tangled remake, but otherwise, it’s unclear how much these types of movies will continue to be developed. Last year, we learned Disney had also cancelled an Aristocats remake prior to this news.
Robin Hood may be dead, but you can catch the next Disney remake, Moana, hitting theaters on July 10.