Following the 1990s renaissance that brought all-time classics like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, interest in Disney’s animated output had started to wane by the turn of the millennium, with audiences seemingly more enamored with the computer-generated techniques pioneered by Pixar rather than good old-fashioned hand drawings.
This led to a downturn at the box office, but ironically, resulted in many fan favorites that endure to this day including The Emperor’s New Groove, Lilo & Stitch and Treasure Planet. Another Disney animation that didn’t fare particularly well at theaters though was Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which only made $186 million against a reported $120 million budget, and received mixed reviews from many critics who thought the Mouse House had failed in their attempt to appeal to an older audience.
However, the reception to Atlantis has only warmed over time, with many fans now viewing it as an unsung classic, and with Disney seemingly intent on remaking all of their animated movies eventually, it looks like they might even start looking to some that were viewed as a disappointment at the time.
In fact, sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us Disney are doing live-action remakes of Bambi and Robin Hood, and developing an Aladdin sequel, all of which turned out to be correct – say that Atlantis: The Lost Empire is going to be one of the next animations set for the live-action treatment. And better yet, the studio want Tom Holland as leading man Milo Thatch.
Of course, we reported on this last year, but at that stage the project was still in early, early development. Now, however, the higher-ups at Disney are ready to formally begin moving forward with things and plan to open talks with the Spider-Man star in the near future. There’s no word on whether or not he’ll sign on, but they certainly want him to lead.
In any case, these constant re-imaginings have made a lot of money at the box office so far, and it would certainly be refreshing to see the studio take a chance on a title that many younger audiences might not even be aware of – like Atlantis: The Lost Empire – instead of producing shot-for-shot remakes of classics that everybody’s already seen countless times before.
