After The Lady and the Dragon, Merlin the Enchanter in live action?
Subscribed to dragon films, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo dreams of making an enchanted adaptation…
The Lady and the Dragonthe new dark fantasy Netflix, highlights the star of Stranger Things, Millie Bobby Brown in the main role. The fiction produced by Juan Carlos Fresnadilloexperienced in genre cinema (he notably directed 28 Weeks Later), is a chivalrous tale where Elodie, a devoted young princess, agrees to marry a charming prince. She discovers the pot of roses once the ring is put on her finger. The marital plan was only a means for the prince to repay his debts. The damsel in distress then transforms into a heroine badass to face a fire-breathing dragon. The fairy tale is exchanged for a project of self-elevationwhere the female figure must extricate herself from the clutches of evil which overlooks the evil cave.
The Lady and the Dragon: Millie Bobby Brown is not Maleficent (review)
The project director spoke with Collider on the occasion of its broadcast on Netflix. He looked at the DNA of his filmography, his future desires which should involve the legendary, historical and fantastic story of King Arthur… A myth already revived in 1963 by Walt Disney with Buena Vista Distribution. This new project in live action would follow a trend, recently invoked with The Lion King, The beauty and the Beast or Cinderella…
However, according to Juan Carlos Fresnadillothe Celtic figure of Merlin the wizard is set aside for the moment, for an indefinite period:
“I've been attached to this project for a while, and I worked a lot for Disney on this film. I don't know exactly what happened, but the studio decided to leave the project on hold. So right now it's on hold, and I don't know what's going to happen, to be honest, but I think it's a great story. I would be so excited to do it, if they decide to approve the project.“
“As you can imagine, this industry always has many projects, and you don't know exactly which ones will be selected. So, yes for Merlin the wizardI really hope this happens because I think there is a big fanbase waiting for this“, he adds.
Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, recently announced that Disney Studios intends to take a new direction, dedicated to avoiding the catastrophic investments of recent years. A new term has emerged, that of “tired superheroes”but what about live action adaptations of Disney classics?
The latest live action project, The little Mermaid (2023), passed the $500 million mark in global box office revenue, but received generally terrible reviews. Relaunch Merlin the wizard In this context, is this really a good idea? The big-eared firm is perhaps waiting to see how the spin-off of the Lion King dedicated to Mufasa doing well in the cinema? Release scheduled for December 18.
Top 20 best dragons in cinema