Hollywood Needs To Stop Making Robin Hood, King Arthur And Peter Pan Movies

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Does Hollywood realize that audiences don’t want movies about Robin Hood, King Arthur and Peter Pan? Do they care that we don’t care?

So says Variety, Jude Law is in talks to star as Captain Hook in Walt Disney’s new live-action Peter Pan movie. Truthfully, the notion of David Lowery helming Peter Pan and Wendy is artistically appealing since his 2016 remake of Pete’s Dragon is easily the best “Disney toon turned into a live-action movie” remake of all. Alas, the heartwarming and heart-wrenching Bryce Dallas Howard/Robert Redford drama was not a hit in August of 2016, earning just $143.5 million worldwide on a $65 million budget.

Speaking of movies that were not hits, the last three Peter Pan flicks were all relative bombs. That we’re getting another one is indicative of one of Hollywood’s most frustrating trends, namely giving us new movies based in franchises or on IP that audiences have already rejected. They don’t care that we don’t care.

I understand why Walt Disney is developing a live-action Peter Pan movie. It is possible that the “Walt Disney” logo will give it a boost over previous versions, along with whatever appeal comes with being a (loose, I’m guessing) remake of the 1953 animated favorite. If it works, they’ve got the defining live-action Peter Pan movie to add to their war chest.

Walt Disney and friends didn’t invent Mulan, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Beauty and the Beast, but the success of those animated films over the decades has allowed Disney to essentially imprint themselves onto those classic stories within the public consciousness. They want the defining animated version AND the defining live-action version of these stories. Had The Nutcracker and the Four Realms not bombed, they would have “had” that one too.

However, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms was a colossal miss, earning just $174 million worldwide on a $130 million budget. The film stumbled because, primarily, audiences didn’t care about a new version of The Nutcracker and the “Walt Disney Pictures” logo didn’t compensate for that lack of interest.