Dumbo

Tim Burton’s Dumbo movie hasn‘t gotten off to a great start, with Will Smith joining and then exiting the project within weeks. Since then, we haven’t heard much about the movie, which has been gestating for a while, but now the cast is looking to acquire another big name: that of Eva Green, star of Penny Dreadful and of Burton’s latest film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

After starring in a handful of disappointing films, including last year’s Collateral Beauty and Suicide Squad, it sure would be nice to see Will Smith star in a decent movie again. Bad Boys 3, which was recently delayed, could be that film — maybe, possibly — but Disney’s new Dumbo movie seemed like more of a sure thing given the studio’s reliable formula for live-action remakes. Recent reports revealed that Smith was in talks to star in Tim Burton’s reimagining of the classic Disney film; unfortunately, those talks are no longer happening.

If you’ve ever wondered what a Tim Burton movie starring Will Smith would look like, you might find out relatively soon. The actor is reportedly circling a role in Disney’s live-action remake of Dumbo, which Burton has been attached to direct for some time now. After delivering the disappointing one-two punch of Suicide Squad and Collateral Beauty, Smith sure could use a win, and joining Disney’s growing empire of live-action remakes seems like a pretty safe bet.

Disney is really doubling down on its growing live-action reboot / remake empire, claiming five more release dates for its upcoming projects and officially confirming several previously reported films, including The Jungle Book 2, Maleficent 2, Tim Burton’s Dumbo and more. The studio now has a total of seven release dates set for various live-action projects, and though they have yet to formally attach specific titles to these dates, reports suggest that at least one of the new dates belongs to The Jungle Book sequel.

Disney announced a slate of 19 upcoming films with release dates through 2020. In addition to Marvel’s Ant-Man 2, three untitled Marvel movies and the release date for The Incredibles 2, Disney also revealed dates for four new live-action fairy tales. According to Variety, the untitled fairy tales will be released on December 22, 2017, November 2, 2018, March 29, 2019 and November 8, 2019. But what could these untitled movies be?

With their new Cinderella just days away, Disney is continuing its streak of turning its animated classics into live-action features with the news, via the Wall Street Journal, that Dumbo is ready to make the transition from animated elephant to ... well, still-animated elephant surrounded by live-action actors. If that idea doesn’t get your ears flapping, maybe this will: the Journal says Tim Burton will be the man who’ll direct the new Dumbo.

Here's some news that makes about as much sense as an elephant being able to fly: Disney is developing a live-action movie based on their classic animated film 'Dumbo,' with 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' writer Ehren Kruger penning the script. We'll give you a minute to collect your thoughts.