LOS ANGELES, March 27 — Variety reports that Colin Farrell could be set to join the live-action remake of Disney’s classic animation, expected to start filming soon with Tim Burton in the director’s chair and Danny DeVito and Eva Green also on the cast. Given the current success of Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, in theatres now, casting decisions will no doubt be crucial for Dumbo.
Filming on Disney’s Dumbo is expected to start soon with Tim Burton lined up to direct. However, the front-of-camera cast is proving a little more problematic. The studio has already been turned down by Tom Hanks, opting for war movie The Grey Hound instead, and Will Smith, busy with the third instalment of Bad Boys, as well as Chris Pine and Casey Affleck.
Colin Farrell is now apparently in talks to play the father of the children who make friends with the big-eared baby elephant after seeing him at the circus. This would be the Irish actor’s first Tim Burton movie, unlike fellow cast members, Danny DeVito and Eva Green.
Dumbo will be the fourth collaboration between Danny DeVito, set to play the circus owner, and filmmaker Tim Burton, following Batman Returns, Mars Attacks and Big Fish. French actress Eva Green, who plays trapeze artist Colette, previously starred in Dark Shadows and Tim Burton’s most recent film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
Disney will no doubt pay particular attention to its cast for Dumbo, a film that will combine live-action scenes with animated sequences. In fact, casting decisions could play a crucial role in the success of the movie, based on the studio’s fourth animated classic, released in 1941. Disney certainly got it right when picking Belle in its recent remake of Beauty and the Beast. Actress Emma Watson, even turned down La La Land to take the lead role in Disney’s film. Released March 17 in the USA, Beauty and the Beast has already grossed US$700 million (RM3.09 billion) worldwide, easily taking the top spot in the global box-office ranking for 2017.
Disney can also count on the directorial expertise of Tim Burton to seal the movie’s success. The filmmaker’s live-action adaptation of Alice in Wonderland grossed more than US$1 billion for the studio in 2010. — AFP-Relaxnews
