Nearly one year after picking up the script in a competitive bidding situation, Disney is moving forward with theirlive-actionadventureThe Nutcracker and the Four Realms.The Hollywood Reporterhas word that the studio has hiredLasse Hallströmto direct from the script byAshleigh Powell. The project is adapted from the classic ballet by Peter Tchaikovsky, and the companion storyThe Nutcracker and the Mouse Kingby E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Theclassic talefollows a young girl named Clara, who receives a nutcracker doll from her godfather onChristmasEve. After the clock strikes midnight, she is transported to a magical fantasy world, where she find herself caught in the middle of a war between gingerbread soldiers and a mouse army.Ashleigh Powellspent two years developing the script before it was picked up by Disney last year.
Universal Pictures and New Line Cinema have previously tried to bring Nutcracker stories to life over the past few years, but none of them have made it out ofdevelopmentquite yet.Adam Shankmanwas set to direct New Line’sThe Nutcracker, from ascriptbyDarren Lemke(Goosebumps), and Universal was developing their own project with Peter Chernin’s Chernin Entertainment. There has been no movement on either project for the past few years. In 2010, a live action rendition entitledThe Nutcracker in 3Dhit theaters, starringElle FanningandNathan Lane, but it tanked at the box office. The movie only took in $195,459 domestically and $16.1 million worldwide, from a $90 million budget.
Mark Gordonis producingThe Nutcracker and the Four RealmswithLindy Goldsteinserving as executive producer. Samuel Dickerman andAllison Erlikhmanare overseeing the project for Disney, while Sara Smith is overseeing for TheMark GordonCo. It isn’t known when production may begin at this time.
Lasse Hallströmmost recently directed Disney’sThe Hundred-Foot Journey. His next movie in theaters will beA Dog’s Purpose, starringBritt RobertsonandBradley Cooper, and he is also attached to directTom’s Dad, starringWill Ferrell. Are you looking forward to a live-action Nutcracker movie?
