jon-favreau-couples-retreat-mickey

Uh oh, Mickey's moistening his thumb. We should leave.

When I reported on Jon Favreau not coming back for Iron Man 3 yesterday, I wasn’t that sad about it.  I was actually happy to see him leave a sequel that’ll probably be a clusterfart, and maybe do something cool for a studio not owned by Disney.  Ah, but this is Hollywood.  Things have a way of working out in the lamest way possible.

Favreau will join Guillermo del Toro and David Fincher as part of a next wave of filmmakers making live-action feature films rooted in the imagery of Disney theme parks and classic characters.

Favreau is set to direct “Magic Kingdom,” which the 44-year-old filmmaker described as a family fantasy adventure that will tap into the vintage Disney creations that “loomed so large in the imagination” of his generation.

Favreau spoke in reverent terms of the legacy of Walt Disney and made it clear that his departure from Marvel is no snap decision or the result of fractured relations. The main impulse was to “find something that lights a fire” inside of him as a filmmaker and gives him a chance to “blow people away, which is easier to do with a project that isn’t loaded with built-in expectations.” [LATimes]

Yes, it must be refreshing to get away from all those built-in expectations by taking on the imagery of classic Disney characters.  That just makes good sense.

If only Disney made “new idea” dolls.  I’d totally see a movie that was trying to sell those.