The house with the big ears will not be beaten down by the Covid.
Disney on Thursday drew up a recap of all the group's television and film projects at a time when the major studios were shaking at the pandemic.
As a sign of the difficulties faced by producers and cinemas, the majority of the announcements concerned series derived from
Star Wars
and the Marvel universe intended for the Disney + platform.
Between novelties and confirmation of projects, here is what to remember about the films of this long three-hour presentation made online.
Between platform and cinema
The feature film
Soul,
which will be released on December 25 on the Disney + platform, remains an exception for the moment.
The firm will adopt a hybrid strategy, similar to that of Warner, for
Raya and the Last Dragon:
a preview online on the Disney + platform from March 5 followed by a cinema release on March 12, 2021. This decision authorizes a turnaround in the event that the pandemic does not allow cinemas to reopen in major Western or Asian markets.
Read also: Disney + on course to catch up with Netflix within a year
Musical star Lin-Manuel Miranda will write the songs for
Encanto
, the 60th Disney animated film that tells the story of a family's life in a magical house.
Encanto
is scheduled for November 2021 in theaters.
A film dedicated to the hero of
Toy Story
, Buzz Lightyear, is also in the works.
Chris Evans will lend his voice to the astronaut.
On the Pixar side,
Luca
is well on his way to June 2021. He will be followed by
Domee Shi's
Turning Red
, winner of the 2019 Short Film Oscar for
Bao
.
The film will follow the adventures of Mei, a teenage girl who turns into a giant red panda when she is too horny.
Release announced for March 11, 2022.
Barry Jenkins had already given some clues about the next
Lion King
and Disney has confirmed all of this.
The sequel to the film will be a prequel directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker
Moonlight
.
Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams and Nicholas Britell will handle the music for the film.
Release planned in theaters.
On the other hand, the
Pinocchio
by Robert Zemeckis, with Tom Hanks in the cast, and the film
Peter Pan & Wendy
, with Jude Law as Captain Hook,
will go directly to Disney +
.
Same fate for
Cruella
who sees Emma Stone donning the fur coats of the sworn enemy of
101 Dalmatians
.
Regarding live-action feature films inspired by Disney classics, the list of filming projects is long.
Some remain intended for theaters like the new adaptation of
The Little Mermaid
with Halle Baily.
She will be accompanied by Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay, Melissa McCarthy or even Javier Bardem.
The feature film is entrusted to Rob Marshall.
Marvel stays on track in theaters
While some fear that Disney will emulate its competitor Warner Bros and plan to release simultaneously in theaters on VOD for its blockbusters next year, the president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige clarified that the highly anticipated
Black Widow
, with Scarlett Johansson , "
Would only be on the big screen
" in May.
Scheduled for 2020, the film has been postponed several times due to the pandemic.
The rest of Marvel productions are expected to follow despite delays in releases.
End of filming on the side of
Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings.
The film is expected in theaters on July 9, 2021 with a finally official distribution, which puts an end to the many rumors.
Simu Liu is still Shang-Chi and will face Tony Leung, aka Wenwu.
Awkwafina will also be part of the adventure playing Katy, a Shang-Chi friend.
Long awaited, Michelle Yeoh will indeed be there as well, playing Jiang Nan.
Read also: Your guide to the
Star Wars
and Marvel series on which Disney + is banking
Among the novelties,
The Fantastic Four
will return with yet another reboot, this time in the fold of Marvel productions.
Is this the end of the tunnel for the family superhero team after three 20th Century Fox films, the last of which was in grim memory?
The film will be directed by Jon Watts, master builder of the last
Spider-Man
.
Announced in January, the role of Christian Bale in the film
Thor, Love and Thunder
has finally been revealed.
The actor will play Gorr, the Slayer of Gods and will be the big villain of this new adventure where Natalie Portman will make his return.
Filming is scheduled to begin in January 2021 and remains in the hands of Taika Waititi.
Another expected announcement, that of the replacement Chadwick Boseman, who died this summer.
Disney will not be entrusting the title role of
Black Panther
to another actor for the sequel, which is slated for July 2022 and will be directed by Ryan Coogler.
“
His interpretation of T'Challa the Black Panther is iconic.
That's why we won't reassign the role,
”explained Kevin Feige.
Read also: Portman, Jolie, Johansson, Hayek ... Marvel is surfing the wave of superheroines
The third installment of the Ant-Man saga, titled
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
, will again be directed by Peyton Reed.
The public will find the entire cast of the previous film, namely Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Kathryn Newton joins them as Cassie Lang and Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country) will play the villainous Kang the Conqueror.
Captain Marvel 2
, now slated for November 11, 2022, is entitled to a four-star female cast.
Nia DaCosta will direct while Iman Vellani, the young actress who will play Kamala Khan in the
Ms. Marvel
series
,
and Teyonah Parris, who will play Monica Rambeau in the
WandaVision
series
, will
join Brie Larson.
Finally, if the wait is too long, a special Christmas episode of
Guardians of the Galaxy
will be available on the Disney + platform.
James Gunn announced it on his Instagram account.
Neither the date nor the format has yet been released.
The Star Wars franchise calms down in the movies
It was on the side of Star Wars that we had to look for surprises: the announcement of
Rogue Squadron
caused much ink to flow.
Scheduled for release in late 2023, the feature film is in the hands of director Patty Jenkins (
Wonder Woman
).
Disney also confirms once again the Star Wars movie directed by Taika Waititi had already been made.
Also: Disney Announces New Star Wars Movie,
Rogue Squadron
The other licenses are installed on Disney +
If Star Wars, Marvel and certain animated films have managed to keep their place in the cinema, this is not the case with
Hocus Pocus 2.L
a sequel to the 1993 classic will be directed by Adam Shankman and will be released on the Disney + platform. .
Likewise for the remake of
Three men and a baby
, scheduled for 2022 and with Zac Efron in the cast.
Read also: Harrison Ford back for a fifth
Indiana Jones
but without Steven Spielberg
The sequel to
Once Upon a Time
will also not have the right to a film release despite the return of Amy Adams.
Whoopi Goldberg had already announced it but the project was still unclear.
Sister Act 3
is now officially announced on Disney +.
If the actress is back, it remains to be seen if that will be the case for the rest of the cast.