Disney Executive Sean Bailey Speaks On The Past, Present, And Future Of Disney Live-Action Films
Image source: Working Not Working
When Sean Bailey was announced as the president of production at Walt Disney Studios in 2010, his primary focus was live-action films. Under Bailey’s watchful eye, Disney has seen constant success with live-action remakes (with the occasional misstep, of course) with films such as Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, and most recently, The Little Mermaid. Bailey recently sat down with The New York Times to discuss his tenure.
Since he started, Bailey has taken the generic princess formula and flipped it on its head. Gone are the days of the (mainly white) princess using her looks to get out of whatever trouble she finds herself in and snag her one true love. Now, we see princesses of color, most recently in Halle Bailey’s Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, that use their intelligence and independence to solve problems and still get their one true love. He makes it a point to make the cast diverse, not to check off any diversity boxes, but to reflect what the world looks like.
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Image source: Variety
Bailey has nearly 100 projects in various stages of production, including live-action reimaginings of Hercules, Moana, and even Lilo and Stitch. Also in the hopper is a reboot of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, including leaving the possibility of Johnny Depp returning as Captain Jack Sparrow. Walt Disney Studios usually make 2-3 big-budget films that are released in theaters per year, and numerous mid-size budget films specifically for Disney+. Oh, he also confirmed Hocus Pocus 3!
While there have been numerous successes, there have been failures as well. John Carter and The Lone Ranger were massive failures for Disney. One thing that Sean Bailey has yet to do is create a new franchise. He tried with 2015’s Tomorrowland, but that failed to get off the ground. His next original idea? Bringing Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book to life.
With Bob Iger back as CEO and already planning on making “quality over quantity” a priority, it will be interesting to see what will happen with Sean Bailey and Walt Disney Studios in the near future.
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