Disney – Page 2

Donald Glover to Play Young Lando Calrissian in Upcoming Star Wars Stand-Alone Film

Lucasfilm announced Friday that Donald Glover—acclaimed actor, award-winning writer and Grammy^®-nominated artist—will be playing the part of Lando Calrissian in the still-untitled Han Solo Star Wars film, helmed by directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Glover will join Alden Ehrenreich—previously cast as Han Solo—in bringing two iconic Star Wars characters back to the big screen, but at a time in their lives previously unexplored. This new film depicts Lando in his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld—years before the events involving Han, Leia and Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and his rise to Rebel hero in Return of the Jedi.“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us,” said Lord and Miller. “These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we’d like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever.”

Glover is best known for creating and starring in the critically acclaimed FX series Atlanta(which had the highest premiere numbers for any basic cable comedy show since 2013), as well as for starring in four seasons of the show Community, and for his Grammy-nominated album Because the Internet, performed under the name Childish Gambino. In addition, Glover appeared in the Academy Award^®-nominated The Martian, and will be seen in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The untitled Han Solo movie is set for release in 2018.

‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ Teaser Trailer Debuts

The brand-new teaser trailer for the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Men Tell No Tales debuted 10/3/16. The film opens in theaters May 26, 2017 in 3D, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D.

Disney and Jon Favreau Joining Forces on “The Lion King”

We can officially confirm that The Walt Disney Studios and director Jon Favreau are putting a new reimagining of The Lion King on the fast track to production. The project follows the technologically groundbreaking smash hit The Jungle Book, directed by Favreau, which debuted in April and has earned $965.8 million worldwide.

The Lion King builds on Disney’s success of reimagining its classics for a contemporary audience with films like Maleficent, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book. The upcoming Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson as Belle, is already one of the most anticipated movies of 2017. Like Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King will include songs from the animated film. Disney and Favreau are also in development on a sequel to The Jungle Book. No release date has been announced for either film.

The Lion King (1994) is one of the biggest animated films of all time with a lifetime global box office gross of $968.8 million, including $422.8 million domestically. It won Academy Awards for the original song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (Elton John, Tim Rice) and original score (Hans Zimmer), plus two Grammy Awards, with the soundtrack selling over 14 million copies. In 1997, the stage production The Lion King made its Broadway debut, winning six Tony Awards; 19 years later, it remains one of Broadway’s biggest hits alongside several other productions running around the world, including London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Madrid, Mexico City, Shanghai, and North America. Translated into eight different languages, its 23 global productions have been seen by more than 85 million people across every continent except Antarctica. The Lion King’s worldwide gross exceeds that of any film, Broadway show or other entertainment title in box office history.

Lucasfilm Teams Up with Five Major Brands in Support of ‘Rogue One’

Lucasfilm announced that they are teaming up with five of the world’s most well-known brands—Duracell, General Mills, Gillette, Nissan and Verizon—for the launch of an extensive global promotional campaign in support of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, opening on December 16.

“We are extremely pleased to be working with such a remarkable group of promotional partners for Rogue One,” said Lynwen Brennan, General Manager of Lucasfilm. “This first in a series of Star Wars standalone films represents an exciting new era for both Star Wars and Lucasfilm, and the partners joining us on this exciting journey have each designed a stellar campaign capturing the spirit and camaraderie of Rogue One.”

With their specific, custom-designed campaigns and innovative programs, the five internationally respected global brands are poised to complement the tempo and tone of the overall marketing campaign of this first-ever standalone Star Wars story.

The first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, is an all-new epic adventure that focuses on a group of unlikely heroes who band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is directed by Gareth Edwards and stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, with Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel are producing, with John Knoll and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in U.S. theaters on December 16, 2016.

Guardians of the Galaxy to Breakout at Disney California Adventure Park

At the San Diego Comic-Con, Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, announced to a packed house of fans that the Guardians of the Galaxy are coming to Disney California Adventure park.

Beginning in summer 2017, the outrageous and irreverent gang will appear in Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT—a comically high-energy, rocking new adventure. Guests will be right in the mix with characters from the blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy films.

Deep inside his fortress-like collection, the mysterious Taneleer Tivan (aka The Collector) is displaying his newest acquisitions. “Now he has imprisoned the Guardians of the Galaxy and they’re hanging in display cases over a giant abyss,” reveals Joe Rohde, portfolio creative director, Walt Disney Imagineering. “The captor doesn’t know it but Rocket Raccoon has escaped and is enlisting our aid—all the guests—to help the Guardians in a breakout scheme. And the rest is comical chaos; a very funny, very irreverent story and a really wonderful addition to Disney California Adventure.”

“It’s such a thrill to be working alongside a true visionary like Joe Rohde and the entire Walt Disney Imagineering team,” said Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada. “Like our stories and characters, projects led by Joe are the stuff of legend; so Marvel fans, rejoice! The universe couldn’t be in better hands! Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! is going to be an out-of-this-world experience, and what has me even more excited are Joe’s ‘secret’ plans for the future. We’re just getting warmed up.”

The new attraction will anchor a broader universe of Super Heroes that will grow over time at Disney California Adventure park. This exciting new presence will transform the structure currently housingThe Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™ into an epic new adventure, enhancing the breathtaking free fall sensation with all-new visual and audio effects to create a variety of ride experiences. (Fans ofThe Twilight Zone Tower of Terror will want to experience the attraction from now until its final “drop day,” which will be celebrated in true Disney fashion in early January.) Guests will experience multiple random, unique ride profiles in which the rise and fall of the gantry lift will rock to the beat of music inspired by the film’s popular soundtrack.

Added Feige: “The incredibly talented Disney Imagineering team has found a way to harness the spirit which drove Guardians of the Galaxy’s success to create this immersive experience. With its debut timed to the release of the film’s sequel, we are eager to present the attraction to the millions who visit Disney California Adventure and place them in the center of the action as they join a mission alongside our audacious Guardians of the Galaxy team.”

2016 Disney Accelerator Participants Announced

Today [July 11th] The Walt Disney Company announced participants in the 2016 Disney Accelerator, a program that provides entrepreneurs with mentorship and immersion into the media and entertainment industry. The three-month program connects participants from around the world with Disney’s creative expertise and resources to help them develop their products and consumer experiences.

Since the Disney Accelerator started in 2014, companies representing the cutting edge of technology and media have joined the program from across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia with products that tap into a range of technologies including robotics, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, wearables, messaging and virtual reality. Past participants in the Disney Accelerator have continued to work with The Walt Disney Company after completing the program, such as, Sphero, which created the BB-8 droid toy, the number one Star Wars toy in 2015. Additionally, Statmuse, an interactive sports stats platform powered by natural language search, is currently providing ESPN with statistical content; Israel-based imperson launched The Muppets’ Miss Piggy and Disney’s Zootopia chat experiences on Facebook using their artificial intelligence technology and EMOTIV’s Insight wearable for the brain was featured on ABC Television’s The Bachelor.

This year’s program includes nine startups and one internal project, and builds on Disney Accelerator’s success since its initial launch.

“We are evolving this year’s Disney Accelerator to include many later-stage start-ups, and for the first time, an internal project,” said Michael Abrams, senior vice president, Innovation, The Walt Disney Company. “This year’s Disney Accelerator program is designed to advance a broader spectrum of the strategic investments we make in innovation across all of our businesses.”

The companies selected for the 2016 Disney Accelerator include:

Ader is a marketplace connecting brands with eSports and gaming influencers. The company’s network of influencers reaches more than 50 million monthly viewers.

Atom Tickets is a new mobile movie-ticketing app where customers can buy movie tickets, pre-order concessions, invite friends without having to pay for them, easily discover new movies, browse trailers, read reviews and plan their next night out at the movies. Atom Tickets is movie-going for the 21st century.

Hanson Robotics is a leader in creating human-like robots with a full range of facial expressions. Based in Hong Kong, Hanson Robotics is building a range of robots for the business and consumer markets. The videos of its robot “Sophia” have been viewed more than 1 billion times.

Jaunt is pioneering end-to-end solutions for creating and publishing immersive cinematic virtual reality and a leading developer of the hardware, software, tools and applications that put the power of virtual reality in the hands of some of today’s best content creators. Jaunt has raised more than $100 million, and has launched Jaunt China, a virtual reality joint venture with China Media Capital and Shanghai Media Group in May.

littleBits is a platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks that empowers kids to invent anything, from a remote-controlled car to a dancing robotto a smart home device. littleBits was founded by Ayah Bdeir, co-founder of the Open Hardware Summit, a TED Senior Fellow and a graduate of the MIT Media Lab. On a mission to unleash the inventor in everyone and get kids excited about STEM, littleBits has raised more than $60 million in funding.

Nom, an online live-streaming video community for chefs and food lovers, allows its users to create, share, watch and participate in live videos while chatting and interacting with each other. Nom was founded by Vijay Karunamurthy, former YouTube engineering lead, and Steve Chen, co-founder and CTO of YouTube.

OTOY is a “holographic content” platform bringing the power of light field rendering and network streaming to virtual reality and augmented reality experiences. OTOY’s investors include Autodesk and its advisers include Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet (formerly Google) and Ariel Emanuel, Co-CEO of WME|IMG.

Playbuzz is a content-creation and audience-engagement platform that empowers tens of thousands of publishers, marketers, bloggers and brands to easily create engaging content using mobile-friendly formats that are optimized for social sharing. With headquarters in New York and Tel Aviv, Playbuzz has raised $31 million in funding.

Pley is a leading toy subscription company that is pioneering the next generation in e-commerce for toys. For a monthly fee, members receive their preferred toys from a catalog of 500+ toys shipped directly to their door and can play with, keep or return each toy whenever they wish. Pley has raised more than $16 million in funding.

Sequel to ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ Hits Theaters on March 9, 2018

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ announced today that its smash hit Wreck-It Ralph is getting a sequel.

The Oscar®-nominated team from the original film is re-teaming for the follow-up, including director Rich Moore (Zootopia, The Simpsons) and producer Clark Spencer (Zootopia, Bolt). Phil Johnston (writer, Wreck-It Ralph, Zootopia) joins Moore as director and a writer on the project. John C. Reilly returns as the bad-guy-turned-good, Ralph, with Sarah Silverman back on board as the girl with the game-winning glitch, Vanellope von Schweetz.

The film will hit theaters on March 9, 2018. “From the moment we started working on the first Wreck-It Ralph, we knew there were so many possibilities with these characters,” said Moore in a statement. “This time, Ralph’s wrecking wreaks havoc on the Web—as only he can do. Characters we loved in the first film are back and we are ecstatic to be working with them—and the actors who voice them—once again.”

“Ralph is a character very near and dear to my heart,” added Reilly. “I’m really looking forward to playing the big lug again. Making the first Wreck-It Ralph was one of the most special experiences I’ve ever had and I’m really looking forward to bringing him back to life. So many kids I’ve met all over the world are excited to see him again, too. They tell me all the time!”

In celebration of the announcement, Disney’s hit mobile game, Disney Crossy Road, will be wrecked by Ralph at 12 p.m. PT today. As fans play through the 12 different Disney and Pixar worlds of Disney Crossy Road, Ralph may appear and “wreck” part of their gameplay.

Wreck-It Ralph debuted on November 2, 2012, with the highest opening weekend for a Disney Animation film at the time of release and went on to gross $478 million worldwide. Nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe® for best animated feature, it won a Producers Guild of America Award as well as five Annie Awards. It was also named best animated feature by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and won a Kids’ Choice Award for favorite animated movie.

Previously dated on March 9, 2018, Walt Disney Animation’s Gigantic will move to November 21, 2018.

More Retail Locations Will Open Soon at Disney Springs

Original article by Darcy Clark, Disney Parks Blog, 6/30/16

It’s an exciting time at Disney Springs, as more new additions are being added in the coming days and throughout the summer.

Today, I’m happy to share that another high-profile brand will join the world-class retail lineup in Town Center: Levi’s. Opening later this summer, the Levi’s Store will offer denim for the entire family – yes, kids can get jeans here, too! And for anyone who wants to have their clothing tailored, the Tailor Shop at the front of the store will allow shoppers to get their favorite shorts, T-shirts, truckers and accessories personalized by a team of craftsmen. (This offering is exclusive to just a handful of Levi’s locations worldwide!)

Levi’s Coming to Disney Springs Summer 2016

Don’t want to wait for more new shopping? You don’t have to. Opening soon in Town Center are Superdry, Sugarboo & Co., Shore, Columbia Sportswear and Coca-Cola Store Orlando, all joining the most recent additions that include LACOSTE, Free People and JOHNNY WAS.

Superdry, a cool British brand, offers high-quality wardrobe staples like jackets, knits, leather goods and leisurewear at affordable prices. Sugarboo & Co., “dealer in whimsy” and carrying “fine quality art and fanciful goods.” Shore, known for its made-in-America apparel and eclectic branded lifestyle merchandise mix, is opening its second-ever store – the first is based in Sarasota, FL – with plans to offer some limited-edition products available only at Disney Springs. Columbia Sportswear, a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, features rugged and stylish apparel, footwear and equipment that’s “tested tough.” Coca-Cola Store Orlando, a completely immersive retail destination, allows guests to experience the world most iconic beverage brand in a building modeled after a 1920s bottling plant.

Of course, all of this shopping requires fuel, so if you want to try the newest restaurant, you’ll be thrilled to learn that Frontera Cocina by celebrity chef Rick Bayless is now open.

Shanghai Disney Resort Celebrates Historic Grand Opening

Shanghai Disney Resort, the first Disney resort in Mainland China and the sixth worldwide, celebrated its historic Grand Opening June 16th, culminating one of Disney’s most ambitious projects ever. Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, celebrated the opening of the one-of-a-kind vacation destination with thousands of distinguished guests, celebrities and Chinese officials.

Shanghai Disney Resort Celebrates Historic Grand Opening

“The grand opening of Shanghai Disney Resort is a celebration of creativity and collaboration, a triumph of imagination and innovation, and a testament to the strong partnership between Disney and China,” Iger said. “Together we have created an extraordinary destination, a magical place unique in all the world, where East meets West, the past meets the future, and anything is possible for those who believe. It is our sincere hope that this spectacular place will inspire wonder and create joy for the people of China for generations to come.”

Shanghai Disney Resort Celebrates Historic Grand Opening

Honoring the Disney-Chinese partnership that created this resort, Iger and Chinese officials cut a red-and-gold ribbon to dedicate Shanghai Disneyland, the resort’s magnificent theme park. Joining Iger were Wang Yang, CPC Politburo Member and State Council Vice Premier, and Han Zheng, CPC Politburo Member and Party Secretary of Shanghai. Iger also shared a greeting similar to the one Walt Disney said on opening day for the original Disneyland, in 1955: “To all who come to this happy place, welcome.”

Shanghai Disney Resort Celebrates Historic Grand Opening

The Grand Opening ceremony marked the moment with music, pageantry and a stream of Disney characters, from Mickey Mouse and Snow White to Baymax and Jack Sparrow, in front of the iconic Enchanted Storybook Castle. A multi-generational choir performed a unique version of the Disney song, “When You Wish Upon a Star,” arranged in a Chinese style to reflect the balance of Disney magic and China’s cultural spirit at Shanghai Disney Resort. The ceremony also featured six performers holding enormous, brightly colored fans to represent the six lands of Shanghai Disneyland.

Shanghai Disney Resort Celebrates Historic Grand Opening

Following the official dedications, tens of thousands of guests entered Shanghai Disneyland on its Grand Opening day to explore world-class attractions and live entertainment spectaculars—many being offered for the first time in a Disney theme park. The three-day Grand Opening event also included two red-carpet occasions: Tuesday’s premiere of the first Mandarin production of THE LION KING, now showing at the Walt Disney Grand Theatre, and Wednesday’s gala concert with celebrity performers at Evergreen Playhouse in Shanghai Disneyland.

Disney Named the Company Americans Want to Work for Most

Fortune article, June 8, 2016

When 10,000 adults in the U.S. were asked to pick their favored brands from the leading 100 companies of the Fortune 500, Disney was top of mind.

On Monday, Fortune announced that The Walt Disney Company was listed as the “Company that Americans Want to Work for Most.”

“Respondents were asked about corporate reputations, trust, influence and global impact. When asked which company they would most want to work for, respondents chose the 93-year-old entertainment giant,” the magazine stated.

This recognition comes on the heels of Disney being named “World’s Most Authentic Brand,”“World’s Most Powerful Brand,” a “Most Admired” company by Fortune and a “Most Reputable”company by Forbes.