Disney has been consistently reassessing their theatrical output following a variety of divisive decisions in recent years. The studio was seemingly on a roll with the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, their slate of live-action remakes, and the early days of Disney Plus. Now following various declines including the box office failure of Snow White, it looks like one live-action movie remake from Disney is likely canceled.
Interestingly, there was a brief upswing with the release of Lilo & Stitch, a live-action remake that performed well enough the studio is already developing a sequel. For some of their other live-action projects, however, the opposite seems to be true.
Now the alleged director of one such project has opened up about its likely cancellation and why they’re no longer involved.
Here’s what Sarah Polley shared on that front while speaking with Vanity Fair:
“I was never actually officially attached to it,” she began, referring to rumors that she had exited the development for a live-action remake of Bambi. In addition to reports that Polley would serve as director, the film had Lindsey Anderson Beer slated to write the screenplay.
“I had one or two conversations about it, but there was no deal, I’d never signed on to it, so it was more of an internet phenomenon than a real thing,” she continued.
“I did talk to them, but I was just working on a bunch of other things that I ended up being more focused on. I do think it’s a super-interesting thing to remake that movie, actually. I was also really interested in the mother-dying-young aspect of it. I could have delivered something very bleak. [Laughs]”
While Polley was enthusiastic about working on the film, it looked like her schedule didn’t work out, and the studio ultimately never pursued the film further. One could assume a more profitable environment for live-action remakes would have changed their minds, but given the failure of Snow White and their efforts to cut costs after spending large sums of money on endeavors including Disney Plus, it sounds as though they’re in no hurry to remake Bambi after all.
As such, the live-action remake of Bambi seems to be canceled, at least for the time being. Of course, anything can change, and perhaps we’ll see the iconic Disney story make its way to the screen in live-action sooner or later. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates as we have them.