Jon Favreau Set to Direct 'Magic Kingdom' for Disney

Disney has already turned theme park attractions into movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. Now it’s one step closer to turning the entire park into the basis of a movie.

Jon Favreau is set to direct Magic Kingdom, Disney’s project centered around the Disneyland theme park in which attractions and characters come to life.

The deal is a development pact for Favreau and the studio, which will now take steps to find a writer to reshape the original script by Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ron Moore.

Whether it becomes Favreau’s next movie will depend on the script’s development, although the director, who is in post on next summer’s Cowboys & Aliens, doesn't have anything officially slotted. Among his other projects in development are Me and My Monster and Johnny Zero, both set up at Columbia.

Strike Entertainment Marc Abraham and Eric Newman are producing Kingdom.

The deal shows Favreau’s continuing ascent to the top of the directors heap. In 10 years, he went from directing a crime-boxing indie, Made, to blockbusters such as the Iron Man movies and Cowboys. Along the way, he helped launch Will Ferrell to the A-list, rehabilitated Robert Downey Jr. and made working with practical effects, well, practical.

Favreau is repped by CAA.