Disney has never shied away from trying to turn its theme park rides into box office gold. And now, Disney’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be the next attraction to get a big screen adaptation. Deadline is reporting that Hawkeye directors Bert (Amber Templemore-Finlayson) & Bertie (Katie Ellwood) are in negotiations to helm the film. It will be produced by LuckyChap Entertainment and Scott Free. Kieran and Michele Mulroney are also signed on to write the script.
In addition to helming three episodes of Hawkeye, Bert & Bertie helmed two episodes of Our Flag Means Death, as well as episodes of Kidding and The Great Directed. Their feature credits include Dance Camp and Troop Zero. The Mulroneys co-wrote the story for the 2017 Power Rangers reboot, and they also wrote the script for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
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Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is mine train roller coaster that first opened at Disneyland in 1979. Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom opened its own version of the ride a year later. In the mythology behind the attraction, gold was discovered at Big Thunder Mountain in the late 1800s. However, the mountain was a scared site for the local Native Americans and it was subsequently cursed by a natural disaster that destroyed the town. After the town was abandoned, the trains in the mountain were seemingly possessed as they ran on their own without any operators.
Regardless, the screenwriters of the film will likely have free reign to reinvent the mythology as they see fit. Disney’s two most successful theme park adaptations, Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise, both took several liberties with the source material. And the Big Thunder Railroad backstory differs from park to park, so there’s more room to flesh it out as well.
What do you want to see from a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad film? Let us know in the comment section below!
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