Like 20th Century Fox before them, Disney recently released a line-up of films with few female directors in sight.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney has staked out prime release dates for its upcoming live-action fairy tale or adaptation movies. Following on the heels of the success of “The Jungle Book,” Disney has claimed July 28, 2017; April 6, 2018; Aug. 3, 2018; Dec. 25, 2018; and Dec. 20, 2019. As THR pointed out, “That’s in addition to two dates the studio has already claimed for untitled live-action fairy tales — Nov. 2, 2018, and Nov. 8, 2019 — meaning there will be four such films in 2018 alone.”
The dates do not yet have corresponding films, but the possibilities can be culled from the list of upcoming live-action fairy tales or adaptations in the works. They include “The Jungle Book 2,” “Cruella,” starring Emma Stone; “A Wrinkle in Time,” directed by Ava DuVernay; “Jungle Cruise,” starring Dwayne Johnson; director Tim Burton’s “Dumbo”; a “Mary Poppins” sequel from Rob Marshall, which is set to star Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda; “Maleficent 2" with Angelina Jolie; a Tinker Bell movie starring Reese Witherspoon, and director Lasse Hallstrom’s “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.” Other Disney adaptations that are in the works, but weren’t mentioned by THR, include Alex Ross Perry’s “Winnie the Pooh,” David Lowery’s version of “Peter Pan,” and as of now directorless “Pinocchio,” “Mulan,” and “The Sword in the Stone.”
Of those nine films, only one, “A Wrinkle in Time,” is directed by a woman. “Cruella,” “Jungle Cruise,” “Maleficent 2,” and Witherspoon’s Tinker Bell project do not have directors attached. Here’s hoping Disney takes the hint and hires some female filmmakers to helm these big projects.
These live-action reworkings are all the rage but seriously lacking in female representation behind the camera. Disney has no women directors on its 2016 slate of live-action adaptations: “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” “Pete’s Dragon,” and “Beauty and the Beast” were all directed by men. Disney’s animated realm (some of which it shares with Pixar) doesn’t fare any better, with “Finding Dory,” “Moana,” “Coco,” “The Incredibles 2,” and “Toy Story 4” all helmed by men. Pixar’s “Cars 3,” and Disney Animations “Gigantic,” which is based on the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, have no directors attached.
As for women screenwriters, Kelly Marcel is penning the “Cruella” script, “Mulan,” came from a script written Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek, DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time” script was written by Jennifer Lee, Linda Woolverton is set for “Maleficent 2,” Ashleigh Powell will be penning “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” and Victoria Strouse is set for Witherspoon’s Tinker Bell film.
So Disney is doing a dramatically better job of hiring women writers and telling female-centered stories than they are when it comes to getting female helmers on board these projects.
While we lament the lack of female directors chosen for any of these films as of yet, we would like to point out one beacon of hope on the horizon: Mira Nair’s combo Disney and EPSN film “Queen of Katwe” will be released in September. The film stars Lupita Nyong’o in a biopic about a Ugandan chess prodigy. It would be a ridiculous shame should Nair end up the only woman this year to direct a Disney film. Hopefully those Disney films without directors attached will find themselves with women at the helm.
