Though it seemed one of the more unlikely titles for Disney to ferret out from its vault and slather with a coat of remake paint, Pete’s Dragon is heading to screens for 2016 and is busy building an eclectic cast. Wes Bentley is the latest addition to the team.
Oakes Fegley will star as the titular Pete, an orphan who arrives in a small town with his magic dragon, attempting to escape his abusive adoptive parents. Oona Laurence, meanwhile, plays a newly created character, Natalie, who also befriends our hero. The film – which will shoot in New Zealand – is set against the backdrop of illegal logging. Elliott the dragon, who raises Pete after his parents are killed in a car crash, lives in a threatened forest.
Bentley, whose role has yet to be specified, joins a cast that already also includes Robert Redford and Bryce Dallas Howard, in a film that will stray from the musical nature of the 1977 original. Ain’t Them Bodies Saints director David Lowery is on to direct after initially being hired to write the film along with regular collaborator Toby Halbrooks.