What’s this? What’s this? There are sequels everywhere! Supposedly, Disney is considering a live-action sequel to Tim Burton’s ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas!’
Moviehole reported that Disney is looking to “do something with ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ — probably a sequel but live-action possible.”
Henry Selick directed the 1993 stop-motion animated musical, which was inspired by a poem written by Burton. The film was wildly successful, making $75 million at the box office in its original theatrical release. Since then, it has acquired a huge cult following.
One person who may not be too thrilled with this idea is Burton himself. When helping Disney transfer the film to 3D, Burton revealed that he was against a sequel, saying:
“I was always very protective of [‘Nightmare’], not to do sequels or things of that kind. You know, ‘Jack visits Thanksgiving world’ or other kinds of things, just because I felt the movie had a purity to it and the people that like it.”
He continued, saying:
“Because it’s not a mass-market kind of thing, it was important to kind of keep that purity of it. I try to respect people and keep the purity of the project as much as possible.”
Disney is capitalizing on the momentum of re-imagining their classic animated films into live-action versions. Burton himself directed two of these; 2010’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and the upcoming ‘Dumbo.’ Other films that have gotten the live-action treatment include ‘Cinderella,’ ‘The Jungle Book,’ ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ and the soon to be released ‘Aladdin’ and ‘The Lion King.’
Sean Bailey, president of Motion Picture Production at Walt Disney Studios, gives the credit for newfound love of the old classics saying to chairman Alan Horn, saying:
“We thought if Iron Man and Thor and Captain America are Marvel superheroes, then maybe Alice, Cinderella, Mowgli, and Belle are our superheroes, and Cruella and Maleficent are our supervillains.”
He continued, saying:
“Maybe if there’s a way to reconnect with that affinity for what those characters mean to people in a way that gets the best talent and uses the best technology, that could become something really exciting. It feels very Disney, playing to the competitive advantages of this label.”
The live-action ‘Dumbo’ hits theaters on March 29, followed by ‘Aladdin’ on May 24 and ‘The Lion King’ on July 19.
