The Wrap has a deep dive piece covering the legacy of Sean Bailey's reign as head of Walt Disney Studios, and it has some unfortunate news for Bambi and Sarah Polley fans.
Polley, coming off directing the well-regarded 2022 drama Women Talking, had been attached to direct a live-action version of the 1942 animated classic Bambi, but The Wrap is reporting exclusively that Polley is no longer attached. The article adds that “it's unclear if the project will move forward now that Bailey is gone.”
Bailey, who had been running Walt Disney Studios for the past fourteen years until his recent departure, is most associated with the string of live-action remakes of beloved Disney animated classics.
The Wrap explains that Bailey saw this as his version of Marvel's MCU, making it his mission to bring to life beloved Disney princesses and villains, with such live-action hits such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Maleficent, and drawing in film auteurs to direct each property much like Marvel aims to do with its franchises.
Article Continues BelowOscar winner Sarah Polley was one of those auteurs, and fans of hers were excited to see what she did with a live-action version of the coming-of-age tale of a young orphaned deer, Bambi. Now fans will be left guessing as to why the deal went south.
The status of a few other live action adaptations that Bailey had in the works is also unclear now that he's left the studio. Taking over for Bailey is David Greenbaum, the former co-head of Searchlight Pictures, who now has to decide the fates of Bailey-developed works like: a Cruella sequel (with Emma Stone attached to return); a live-action Hercules directed by Guy Ritchie; and the feline classic The Aristocats with a live-action take from Questlove.
Bailey was also known to be spearheading the Disney theme park ride-turned-film movement, with further adaptations in the works like a Jungle Cruise sequel, another Pirates of the Caribbean film (The Last of Us creator Craig Mazin was reportedly hired to write a script), and films centered on attractions like the Matterhorn, Space Mountain and Tower of Terror also in development with high profile filmmakers (such as Taika Waititi, who was attached to direct Tower of Terror).
But with Robert Iger's reported mandate to Greenbaum to make “fewer, better movies,” Bambi fans will just have to wait and see if the beloved deer is still poised to get the live action treatment.