Sam Mendes considering live-action James And The Giant Peach

Sam Mendes

by James White |
Published on

Disney has had a lot of success with its conversions of previously animated stories into the live-action realm, and the company is now talking to Sam Mendes about developing and directing a new take on James And The Giant Peach.

The Mouse House first adapted the Roald Dahl book into a stop-motion animation in 1996, with Henry Selick in the director's chair. The plot will likely remain the same, following young orphan James, who escapes a hard life with his mean aunts by befriending human-sized insects and flying a giant peach to New York. You know, just your every day, average story.

This new film has a script by Nick Hornby, but Disney has yet to secure Mendes' services – he's currently in early talks to hop aboard, and it would make his latest attempt at a Dahl adaptation after the music version of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. Dahl hasn't always meant success in the past, though; Steven Spielberg's The BFG wasn't exactly a winner at the box office this year.

Disney's next 'toon conversion is Beauty And The Beast, which will head into UK cinemas on March 17 next year.

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