David Gordon Green is set to direct a film about the development of Disneyland and Walt Disney’s involvement with the project, according to Deadline. This film will be coming straight to Disney+ and will also be produced by Cavalry Media. Cavalry Media and producer Jason Reed reportedly “spent a year developing the pitch before bringing it to Disney.”
This will be the first film that David Gordon Green is directing for Disney. Throughout his career, he has taken on several genre movies including Pineapple Express and Your Highness along with dramas like Stronger. Right now, Green is taking on horror as he directed Halloween and is directing the sequel Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends. Green is also set to direct a new installment in The Exorcist franchise.
Evan Spiliotopoulos will pen the script for this new film. Spiliotopoulos has a history of working with Disney as he has also worked on scripts for Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, The Jungle Book 2, and the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. Spiliotopoulos’ recent credits include Snake Eyes and The Unholy.
Disneyland opened in 1955 and is the only park that Walt Disney was able to supervise himself. While he did have some involvement in the development of Walt Disney World in Florida, he died in 1966, 5 years before the park opened. Disney bought a 160-acre site near Anaheim in 1953 and broke ground in 1954. Walt dreamed up the idea of Disneyland while sitting on a bench and watching his daughters riding a carousel at Griffith Park in California. Other inspirations for Disneyland included Tivoli Gardens in Denmark, Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, and the New York’s World Fair of 1939.
Since then, Disney Parks have emerged throughout the world including Hong Kong Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, and most recently, Shanghai Disneyland. The parks have created many unique and iconic attractions including The Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Many of these attractions have also been turned into movies. Most recently, Jungle Cruise starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt.
Right now, Disney+ has a couple documentary series detailing the real story behind the development of Disneyland and where the parks are today. The Imagineering Story took viewers behind the scenes of Disneyland, other Disney parks, and Disney attractions. Behind the Attraction goes into detail on the development of a specific Disney attraction in each episode.
The Disneyland Movie is the second time Disney has told a story involving its head honcho. 2013’s Saving Mr. Banks told the story of the long process behind the development of Mary Poppins. While Tom Hanks did play Walt himself, he had more of a supporting role as the movie focused more on P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) and the reasoning behind her hesitancy to work with Disney.
The Disneyland movie currently has no release date as it is in very early stages of development. Meanwhile, Green’s Halloween Kills will debut on Oct. 15 in theaters and on Peacock. The sequel is coming from Blumhouse, Miramax, and Universal.