Following his excellent Academy Award-winning documentary Summer of Soul, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson wants to be a cat. The multihyphenate director will now make his feature debut, helming Disney's live-action hybrid remake of The Aristocats according to Deadline. He'll get to put all of his talents together on the project, not just directing but also executive producing and overseeing the music for the film.
Announced back in early 2022, the film is based on the 1970s Disney animated classic following a family of pampered Parisian felines who discover that they're set to inherit the massive fortune of their owner. Her jealous butler, however, has other plans, kidnapping the cats and leaving them in the countryside in hopes of attaining the fortune for himself. Left to fend for themselves in a world they've never known as city cats, the mother and her kittens join forces with a smooth talking tom cat in order to make the journey back home before it's too late.
Though not one of Disney's classics, it stands as one of the better films from the House of Mouse's so-called "Dark Age," including a number of solid tunes including the enduring groove "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat." In that sense, it seems like the perfect film for the Grammy-winning musician-turned-director Questlove to jazz up. He's a founding member of the iconic Philadelphia hip hop group The Roots with six Grammys to his name without considering his filmmaking talents.
Questlove Has Emerged as an Extremely Talented Filmmaker
With Summer of Soul, which took a journey through the legendary 1969 Harlem Cultural festival, Questlove took home Best Documentary at the Oscar after the film roared through the festival circuit and through theaters. Collider's own Ross Bonaime gave the film an A- at the time for creating "a joyous and loving story of the music he adores, and the importance of not forgetting the voices that made the world what it is today." Outside that fantastic debut, he has no lack of experience serving as a musical director, providing tunes for everything from Roots to Detroit and even the comedy sequel Zoolander 2.
Questlove isn't the only cat aboard this remake, however. The film will feature a script penned by Will Gluck and Keith Bunin who previously worked on the Peter Rabbit films and Onward respectively. In addition to Questlove, Tarik Trotter, Shawn Gee, and Zarah Zohlman will also executive produce on behalf of Two One Five Entertainment.
Stay tuned here at Collider for more on Questlove's next directorial effort with The Aristocats. In the meantime, check out the Summer of Soul teaser below.