Big Thunder Mountain - H 2012
ABC is going on a roller coaster.
The Disney-owned network is developing a potential series take on Disney’s popular Western-themed ride Big Thunder Mountain, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
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The dramatic take, fittingly titled Big Thunder Mountain, will be written by Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift) with Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious’) attached to supervise and executive produce.
Additional details about the project, which hails from ABC Studios, are being kept under wraps.
Feature writer Morgan, whose credits also include the 2009 sequel Fast Five, penned the upcoming Keanu Reeves samurai epic 47 Ronin via his deal with Universal Pictures. He’s also developing The Legend of Conan, with Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his role as Conan the Barbarian.
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For his part, actor-turned-writer Fuchs’ small-screen work includes minor roles in ABC’s Pan Am and CBS’ The Good Wife, among others.
Morgan is repped by ICM Partners and McKuin Frankel; Fuchs is repped by WME, Brookside and Bloom Hergott.
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Big Thunder Mountain — which is featured at Disney parks in California, Florida, Tokyo and Paris — centers on a mining town amid the gold rush in the American Southwest that was a sacred spot to local Native Americans. Disaster ultimately strikes in the form of an earthquake (California, Paris), tsunami (Tokyo) and flash flood (Florida).
Thunder Mountain is not the first Disney ride to receive the Hollywood treatment. The Pirates of the Caribbean attractions has spawned four blockbuster features starring Johnny Depp, while The Haunted Mansion, The Matterhorn, The Country Bears, Mission to Mars and Jungle Cruise and lately Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride have been or are in development for the big screen.
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The ultimate theme park movie might be Disney’s Magic Kingdom, which is set entirely in the park. That project is being developed by writer Michael Chabon and director Jon Favreau.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
