Live-Action Winnie-the-Pooh Lands Marc Forster to Direct
First announced early last year, Disney’s live-action Winnie the Pooh movie has finally landed a director as The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Quantum of Solace, World War Z) will helm the picture, which is now titled Christopher Robin.
This reimagined take on A.A. Milne’s famous children’s book series will be produced by Brigham Taylor (The Jungle Book) and written by indie fav Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Philip, Queen of Earth), spinning a new yarn about an adult Christopher Robin returning to the Hundred Acre Woods. Much akin to Steven Spielberg’s Hook, Robin has grown up into an unimaginative businessman with no time for his wife and daughter. When Pooh comes back into his life, he must help him reunite with his old friends while also re-connecting with his family.
The soft-spoken yellow teddy bear’s history at the company dates back to the first theatrical short film Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, which was supervised by Walt Disney himself in 1966. Two more shorts followed and eventually all three were released to theaters as 1977’s The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. An additional pair of theatrical shorts in the ’80s were later joined by several TV series, eight direct-to-DVD movies, and four more traditionally-animated theatrical features, the last of which was the 2011 Winnie the Pooh which had disappointing box office receipts.
Christopher Robin joins a long list of live-action remakes by Disney of their classic animated films, including the previously-released Cinderella in 2015, this year’s The Jungle Book and Pete’s Dragon, plus next year’s Beauty and the Beast as well as the upcoming The Lion King, Mulan, Dumbo, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Snow White and more.