Disney continues to remake its classic animated movies in live-action, often with mixed results. For every Aladdin there's a Pinocchio; and for every Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King, there are disappointments like Dumbo and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
Ultimately, it's all subjective, and one person's least favourite remake may well be an instant classic in the eyes of others.
For now, at least, we won't be adding The Sword in the Stone to either list. The 1963 animated classic explored a young King Arthur's journey under the watchful eye of the wizard Merlin and news of a remake first broke in 2015. It wasn't until 2018 that Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Damsel) boarded the movie but it was a move which felt like a step in the right direction.
We've heard bits and pieces since then, but Fresnadillo has now confirmed in an interview with Screen Rant that he's no longer attached to The Sword in the Stone and, as far as he's aware, the movie is no longer happening.
"That was a project that I was attached to years ago, but it was put on hold," he explains. "From this day, to be honest with you, I don't know what's gonna happen. I think it's a great project and a great story that needs to be told, but I don't know what is gonna happen. Let's see; fingers crossed."
"As you can imagine, with all these movies, you never know when it's going to happen. I really hope that Disney greenlight the movie, but right now, I don't know anything about it," Fresnadillo adds. "Also, the experience that I have now after [Damsel] would be would be fantastic to apply to The Sword in the Stone, for sure.
Given how many takes on King Arthur we've seen in theaters, it's not surprising that The Sword in the Stone was announced as a Disney+ original. It got far enough along that it tapped Enrique Chediak as cinematographer and Eugenio Caballero as production designer, but fell apart somewhere along the line.
Disney+ has set out to curb spending on streaming, so this is likely one of many small screen movies destined to never see the light of day. Lilo & Stitch is slated for a Disney+ release, though we'd bet on that shifting to theaters if it tests well now production has finally wrapped.
Also on the horizon is Snow White, a movie which has received an overwhelmingly negative response for a long list of reasons. That was delayed by a year, but not before a still of the CG Seven Dwarfs was released that generated further backlash from fans.
Stay tuned for updates.