When Jon Favreau first announced that he wouldnât be returning to direct Iron Man 3, he noted that heâd be devoting his time instead to developing his directorial feature Magic Kingdom. Not much was known about the film other than the fact that it centers on a family inside âthe Disneyland theme park in which attractions and characters come to life.â That was late 2010 when Favreau became attached, and aside from an update last summer revealing that Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon was coming aboard to work on the script, news on the Magic Kingdom front has been very, very quiet.Favreau just recently entered talks to direct an adaptation of the stage musical Jersey Boys in what will likely be his next film, so many were left wondering what exactly happened to Magic Kingdom. The director has now given a reassuring update on the project, adding that heâs actually getting a bit of help from the folks at Pixar. Hit the jump for much more, including story details.During an interview with Crave Online, Favreau explained that his last three projectsâIron Man, Iron Man 2, and Cowboys & Aliensâall had release dates before he even started pre-production, so with Magic Kingdom heâs been taking it slow. Moreover, heâs been getting story and script input from the incredibly talented âBrain Trustâ over at Pixar:
âWhat weâve been doing is writing a script, going up to Pixar, meeting with the brain trust, coming back down, bringing on artists, story editors and putting it together as though it were an animated film so that by the time we actually film it, weâll have a rock solid story,â Favreau continued. âI donât want to rush anything. I want this thing to be perfect. I want it to be one shot one kill, like a sniper. I want to make sure this movieâs right in the crosshairs that we can really knock it out of the park so to speak.â
The director was quick to point out that Magic Kingdom is not a Pixar film (itâs still a Disney production) but the âkings of storyâ over at the animation studio are providing some helpful insight throughout the development process. This isnât dissimilar to how Pixar director Andrew Stanton prepped his Disney-produced live-action debut John Carter, also co-written by Chabon. In addition to talking about the prep work being done on the script, Favreau revealed a bit more about the story for Magic Kingdom:
âItâs going to be a family in the park. Itâs an alternate reality version of the park that they get launched into. So much of it is just how it weaves together as a tapestry and what the visuals look like in creating this rich world. Itâs informed by everything that I remember and know about the park from going there since I was a small child.â
The director added that the tone harkens back to his earlier films like Elf and Zathura, but the project is really âcalling upon everything [heâs] learned up to this point,â mentioning both Iron Man and Cowboys & Aliens. He reiterated that thereâs no rush on the film, which I assume means heâll be directing Jersey Boys before he starts principal photography on Magic Kingdom.
Itâs nice to see that heâs so enthused about the adventure pic, and definitely reassuring to knowâespecially in an environment where films start production before the script is even finishedâthat heâs focused on getting the script and story hammered out well before the cameras roll.