Disney rumour: a new Live Action “Black Cauldron”

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Great series to adapt to live action -- though probably better as a TV/streaming series.

Speaking of series to adapt ... Lankhmar! Would love to see Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser on screen.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Loved the original book series. Re-read recently, and it still Stands Up.

Can't remember if I saw the movie, but if it came out in 1985, I wasn't playing D&D and was in college so probably have never seen.

Let me throw a possible name out as director and see if its chum in the water or if folks have forgiven him his sins... Peter Jackson.

 

[Blue]

Read and reread the original series many times when I was a kid. Gave them to my youngest to read when she was old enough. Now she's in two D&D campaigns. (Mission: Accomplished.)

And Princess Eilonwy IS a bonafide Disney Princess, they just haven't acknowledged it.

 

[Gradine]

Re-Watched the Black Cauldron movie fairly recently (within the past year or two) and it holds up surprisingly well. It gets a bad rap because it deviates so much from the source material, but it does the things it's supposed to and gets the characters pretty spot on.

 

[Parmandur]

Re-Watched the Black Cauldron movie fairly recently (within the past year or two) and it holds up surprisingly well. It gets a bad rap because it deviates so much from the source material, but it does the things it's supposed to and gets the characters pretty spot on.

Yeah, I have a soft spot for it. Took some time to get over the adaptation and appreciate it on it's own terms, though.

 

[Deset Gled]

I do think that Disney just buys a bunch of IPs, sometimes solely to sit on them so others can't use them. I'd be very surprised to see Disney return to that property, solely because I'm sure the legacy of the animated film's failure is considered a taboo warning for staff.

I have no trouble believing Disney bought the rights for this to sit on them. It would be a black mark for them if someone else did a movie they failed at and made it better (and more successfully). Also, since the first movie failed so badly, the rights were probably pretty cheap to get.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I have no trouble believing Disney bought the rights for this to sit on them. It would be a black mark for them if someone else did a movie they failed at and made it better (and more successfully). Also, since the first movie failed so badly, the rights were probably pretty cheap to get.

I doubt they are trying to bury anything, since the original movie is on their Disney+ service for a whole new generation to watch for the first time.

 

[Tonguez]

I have no trouble believing Disney bought the rights for this to sit on them. It would be a black mark for them if someone else did a movie they failed at and made it better (and more successfully). Also, since the first movie failed so badly, the rights were probably pretty cheap to get.

Thing is, for its era, its not a bad movie, but it doesnt follow the book much and is a bit more scary than you’d expect from Disney (even compared to Snow White and the nightmare inducing Jumbo)

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Yes, it was very dark for its age for the classic Disney standard. Lots of little children were not used to the undeads. Today it would be +7 or +10 years category.

 

[Deset Gled]

I doubt they are trying to bury anything, since the original movie is on their Disney+ service for a whole new generation to watch for the first time.

I'm not so sure.

Disney definitely buried TBC the first time around. It didn't get a home video release until 1998, when the conventional "Disney Vault" timeline said it should have gotten one around 1992. It also got a 25th anniversary version in 2010, buts still no Blu-ray.

Disney+ has thrown the entire "Disney Vault" ideology upside down, and it remains to be seen what their long term plans are. The Vault has been a powerful tool for Disney to control the market, allowing them to strategically time re-releases to build their brand and take charge of revenue streams. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. If Disney did want to bury TBC, periodically releasing it on Disney+ would help keep the price of the DVD low in the used market (preventing if from becoming a sought after collectible) and let them avoid ever doing a Blu-ray release (or whatever next-gen hard copy exists).