With all things fantasy in movies, TV and gaming having reached an all-time high in recent years, it’s little wonder that Disney is hoping to step in on the action. When the news arrived last year that the studio were spearheading a remake of their seminal children’s classic, Pete’s Dragon, moviegoers weren’t quite sure what to make of it. In spite of the mixed responses, the burgeoning list of names added to its call sheet have been enough to raise interest in the movie.
After its two pint-sized leads Oona Laurence and Oakes Fegley signed on, Robert Redford’s name was thrown into the mix followed shortly after by Bryce Dallas Howard. While their involvement lent the film some significant clout – along with Ain’t Them Bodies Saints director David Lowery at the helm – development has quietened down, until today that is.
Now, The Wrap reports that Interstellar‘s Wes Bentley has signed on in an undisclosed role. Seeing as the remake is a loose adaptation of the 1977 original, it’s hard to guess exactly who the actor will be portraying.
An animated caper, the original told the story of a young boy in a fishing village, who flees his adoptive parents and winds up befriending a dragon. This reimagined version will be quite a different proposition. Gone is the quaint village setting, and it has instead been replaced by a logging community keen to demolish a local forest that’s home to orphaned youngster Pete and his dragon, Elliot. That’s not the only erasure; the musical element has been eschewed in favour of a straight-up family movie. According to The Wrap, the script by Lowery and co-writer Toby Halbrooks “reinvents the core of the original.”
No start date has been announced for the film’s production, but we do know that Pete’s Dragon intends to lens at New Zealand’s Stone Street Studios. We’ll keep you posted when any new details emerge.