When the practice of turning theme park rides into movies was freshly sparked with Pirates Of The Caribbean, we’d often joke that Disney was now achingly close to adapting sugary, singing, animatronic nightmare fuel It’s A Small World. We really have to learn to keep our gobs shut, because the Mouse House now has National Treasure director Jon Turteltaub in charge of the project.
The blame – or, depending how you see it, credit – for the new movement lies at the feet of The Internship/The Watc****h writer Jared Stern, who pitched the concept and will write the script. It’s early days for the idea and Deadline’s report carries no details on what the film would be about, but we’re guessing it’ll involve a lot of warbling characters that must unite to, oh, save the world from a terrible racist menace or something while singing a horrendous earworm of a song. Disney would like this one to spawn another franchise to match the Pirates films, and The Lego Movie’s Dan Lin is aboard to shepherd the film.
Turteltaub has some experience with Disney franchises, having delivered two National Treasure movies and developing a third. He had less success with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, but has recently seen his stock rise again thanks to Last Vegas’ box office haul. Now click here and thank us for getting the song well and truly lodged in your noggin.