AfterPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearllit up box offices (and then led to a series of increasingly disappointing sequels, the quality in line with where each sat in sequence), the Disney Company set their eyes on turning their famous rides—the closest thing the company ever had to original IP of their very own—into a series of lucrative movies spawning merch out the wazoo. Next on the list:Big Thunder Mountain.
Now according to Deadline, the directors ofHawkeye, Bert & Bertie, one of the better Disney+ MCU television series and one that a fan favorite due toHailee Steinfeld and Florence’s Pugh’s effortless chemistry on screen, are set to adapt the rollicking mining train-themed rollercoaster into another ride-inspired movie for Disney produced by Scott Free and LuckyChap Entertainment.
Related:The Pirates of the Caribbean Movies, Ranked
AfterPirates of the Caribbeancame the Eddie Murphy disaster,The Haunted Mansion, only notable for its set design and the fantastic makeup work by the multiple-Academy award-winning makeup effects artist, Rick Baker. That was followed by all of the advancingly worsePiratessequels and then theirThe Jungle Cruisemovie, itself based on a ride that was already inspired by the 1951 John Huston-directed, Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn-starringThe African Queen. Taking a cue from the Stephen Sommers’Mummymovies and their ownPirates of the Caribbeanfranchise, they created a riff on both filled with zany, cartoonishly over-the-top-action all in a quest for a magic MacGuffin thatleads to encounters with undead Conquistador zombiescursed by natives for their greed—shadows ofThe Curse of the Black Pearlin spades.
These expensive sometimes-flops haven’t deterred Disney, however, and they’re going full steam ahead (pun intended) on aBig Thunder Mountainmovie based on the rollicking rollercoaster that’s said to be the “wildest ride in the wilderness.” The coaster, which opened in 1979, originally replaced an area of the park where children could ride on the backs of real, live burros around the miniature Western town that forms part of the coaster’s background scenery today. It’s a ride that hasn’t been without its own controversy over the years, most recently the2003 accident in which one man was killedand ten other guests injured in a massive accident that involved the train literally jumping off the tracks.
With Bert & Bertie aboard, it still doesn’t mean the project might not jump the tracks as well. In recent years, betting on Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski, the producer of thePiratesfranchise and the director of the first three films in it, teamed up for the 2013 big-budget adaptation of the 1930s serialThe Lone Ranger. They even pulled in Jack Sparrow himself, Johnny Depp, as Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s sidekick (along with theincreasingly controversial Armie Hammer). The picture even featured a grand finale set aboard a train, but was still a box office disaster and more in line with fellow flopWild Wild Westthan anything else. That leaves some big boots forBig Thunder Mountainto fill.
More:Jamie Lee Curtis and Jared Leto Join Disney’s Haunted Mansion Movie
