Of all the films from its archives that Disney could unearth to be given a fresh coat of remake paint, we were surprised to see P****ete’s Dragon among them. Still, it’s moving forward with Ain’t Them Bodies Saints director David Lowery overseeing the project and has just secured two young stars in Oakes Fegley and Oona Laurence.
Fegley, who has appeared on Boardwalk Empire and has small roles in the upcoming This Is Where I Leave You and** Fort Bliss**, will be the titular Pete, an orphan who arrives in a small town with his magic dragon, attempting to escape his abusive adoptive parents.
Laurence, meanwhile, is a newly created character, Natalie, who also befriends our hero. The young actress won a Tony on Broadway for her work in the Matilda musical and will be seen in boxing drama Southpaw alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.
Lowery and co-writer Toby Halbrooks are on board to write a new take on the story, with a modern frame and, apparently, without the musical element of the original. The plan is to film live-action and create the dragon via CGI, which should surprise exactly no one. We're fascinated to see what the director of the very moody, very sombre Ain't Them Bodies Saints does with the, well, least cool Disney film of them all. It should be an interesting mix.