After the success of Pirates of the Caribbean, it’s no secret that Disney is mining their various attractions for more good movie ideas. You could roll your eyes and say “Lame!”, but we’re getting Guillermo Del Toro’s The Haunted Mansion out of this. (Maybe. He has such a busy plate.)
Disney isn’t looking too far out of one square of park, though. The ride next door to New Orleans Square is getting the movie treatment — The Jungle Cruise.
Written by Roger S.H. Schulman, it has already attracted Tom Hanks and Tim Allen to star. If you can’t get Johnny Depp, Disney’s most popular bromantic duo is a nice replacement.
All story details are being kept under wraps. All I can say is that the Jungle Cruise (especially after its post-African Queen renovation) is one of my favorite rides, and certainly has the right atmosphere for a movie. But given that Adventureland draws heavily on our cinema created ideas of foreign locales (shades of John Huston and Johnny Weissmueller are everywhere) , it feels incredibly weak to give it that kind of applause. But hey, if the worst we get is a comedy that rips off The African Queen (but with dudes), that wouldn’t be so bad, would it? Maybe you shouldn’t answer that.
I wonder what the next ride optioned will be. Matterhorn, starring Gerard Butler, Jeremy Irons, and Josh Gates? Big Thunder Mountain, starring Bradley Cooper and Terrence Howard? Fingers crossed.