First (of what I am sure are many) cross promotions for Disney
New Disney Studios Chairman Announced.
BURBANK, Calif. – May 31, 2012 – Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, announced today that Alan Horn has been named Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios effective June 11. Horn will oversee worldwide operations for The Walt Disney Studios including production, distribution and marketing for live-action and animated films from Disney, Pixar and Marvel, as well as marketing and distribution for DreamWorks Studios films released under the Touchstone Pictures banner. Disney’s music and theatrical divisions will also report to Horn.
Horn has been a prominent figure in the film and television industry overseeing creative executive teams responsible for some of the world’s most successful entertainment properties including the Harry Potter film franchise and the hit television series Seinfeld among others.
“Alan not only has an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience in the business, he has a true appreciation of movie making as both an art and a business,” said Iger. “He’s earned the respect of the industry for driving tremendous, sustained creative and financial success, and is also known and admired for his impeccable taste and integrity. He brings all of this to his new role leading our studio group, and I truly look forward to working with him.”
Avatar comes to Disneyland
Fans of Avatar, the 2009 hit movie, will get an experience that goes beyond even IMAX 3D when Walt Disney World launches rides based on the film in 2017 or so, according to a report.
Disney has lined up exclusive agreements with Avatar distributor Twentieth Century Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment, director James Cameron’s production company, reports The Wall Street Journal. Construction on the $400 million project will begin in 2013 in Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. Disney ride designers, a.k.a. “Imagineers,” will be collaborating with Cameron on the effort.
Cameron, who appeared at a press conference Tuesday, said the rides will recreate environments from Avatarand possibly two sequels planned for 2014 and 2015. Full terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Cameron is set to collect a fee, rather than a percentage of ticket sale. He will also get royalties on merchandise, food and beverages.
The Avatar rides will join other attractions based on movie franchises at Disney, such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Disney Set Date for “The Lone Ranger”
Just a few months ago, it looked as though we might not be seeing director Gore Verbinski‘s The Lone Ranger until 2014, but Disney is moving ahead with the high-profile revival of the serialized western hero and his sidekick Tonto, played respectively by Armie Hammerand Johnny Depp. According to Deadline, the House of Mickey has just set the film for release on December 21, 2012.
The Lone Ranger is a reunion between Depp and Verbinski, who previously made hay with the first three films in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Though Verbinski did not to return for this summer’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, he did work with Depp on the animated western Rango. Also on board from the Pirates franchise is uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The screenplay is written by Justin Haythe, who previously contributed to The Clearing, and adaptedRevolutionary Road.
Since their first appearance on a serialized radio adventure in 1933 and continuing through media including television, film, and pulp novels, the Commanche Tonto has been the reliable sidekick of the heroic Texas Ranger, but this new version will give Johnny Depp‘s Tonto a more central role, rather than simply supporting Armie Hammer. Verbinski and Depp have both previously commented that the film will have a new spin on the established dynamic, with Verbinski asserting that it is thematically inspired by “Don Quixote.”
The December 21, 2012 date is just one week after the December 14th debut of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first half of director Peter Jackson‘s adaptation of the Lord of the Rings prequel. The Lone Ranger‘s release is currently shared by Phillip Noyce‘s submarine thriller Hunter-Killer and Life of Pi, Ang Lee‘s take on the novel by Yann Martel.
Pirates of the Caribbean Film Factoids
Came across the following facts regarding the new Disney film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which hits theaters on May 20th
1) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was the first film to hit the $100 Million mark in TWO days at the US box office
2) Prior to Pirates, Johnny Depp had starred in only one movie that topped the $100 Million mark in in the US. That film was Sleepy Hallow
3) Depp’s reported $59.2 Million paycheck for On Stranger Tides beats Tom Hank’s check for Angel and Demons making him the highest paid actor ever.
4)Of all the Trilogy film Series – Lord of the Rings at $2.9 Billion is first, – Pirate films snagged a global booty of $2.68 BILLION at the Box Office, and The Matrix trilogy at $1.6 Billion was third.
studio systems group 