According to TheDisInsider, Taika Waititi has signed on to direct Disney’s Tower of Terror reboot movie. The Tower of Terror project also features Scarlett Johansson, who is attached as a producer. The status on this film was in jeopardy when Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney over their decision to put Black Widow on Disney+ Premier Access the same day as theaters. However, Disney and Johansson have settled, and the project seems to still be in development. Toy Story 4 director josh Cooley will also be writing the script for the project.
Tower of Terror is based on the Disney attraction, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which first opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 1994. The attraction is a huge hit and has also opened at Disney Parks around the world. At Disney’s California Adventure, the attraction was re-themed into Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. In 1997, a made-for-TV movie with the same name came out on ABC. This film starred Steve Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst.
Disney turning their attractions into movies is not anything new and has brought them previous success. The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has grossed over $4.5 billion dollars and is one of their most successful properties. The studio is rebooting the Pirates franchise, this time with Margot Robbie.
Most recently, Disney released the Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. Jungle Cruise did fairly well at the box office, grossing $213 million worldwide. The film was also available on Disney+ Premier Access the same day as theaters. The studio also has a Haunted Mansion movie in the works, starring Tiffany Haddish, Lakeith Stanfield, and Danny DeVito.
Waititi’s last directed film, Jojo Rabbit, won Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2020 Academy Awards along with being nominated for Best Picture. The director recently starred as the main antagonist in Free Guy, another project owned by Disney, and had a small role in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.
With Tower of Terror, Taika Waititi is adding another project to his upcoming heavy workload. The director previously worked with Disney on Thor: Ragnarok and voiced the character, Korg, in Ragnarok, Avengers: Endgame,&and What If…?. His work with Disney is continuing as Waititi is directing Thor: Love and Thunder and he is also writing and directing an upcoming installment in the Star Wars franchise. He also directed an episode of The Mandalorian and voiced the droid, IG-11.
Outside of Disney, Waititi is creating a new series for HBO Max, titled Our Flag Means Death. He is also directing a sports comedy-drama featuring Michael Fassbender, titled Next Goal Wins, which will debut sometime in 2022. He is also involved in two comedy shows on FX; Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows, which is based on a film he co-created with Jemaine Clement.
Waititi is one of the biggest filmmakers/actors in the business right now and Disney is certainly going all in on the Waititi train. It could still be awhile until the Tower of Terror movie is released as Waititi currently has a lot on his plate but there is still plenty of new and unique Waititi content to look forward to. This news arrives from The DisInsider.com.
Source: movieweb.com