Disney’s annual fan event, D23 Expo, took place at the weekend at the Anaheim Convention Centre in California.
The annual showcase of new Disney movies and TV for the rest of 2022 and into 2023 included some big-name musical movies coming to the screen soon, including The Little Mermaid live action movie, Disenchanted, Mufasa: The Lion King, Hocus Pocus 2, Beauty and the Beast Live and more.
The Marvel, Star Wars and 20th Century Fox announcements included new Indiana Jones, Avatar: The Way of Water, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Thunderbolts movies.
Also a new live-action Snow White movie which will star Gal Gadot in the role of the Evil Queen is coming to cinemas in 2024.
The Little Mermaid
Disney released a new trailer for the live action version of The Little Mermaid, coming to cinemas on 26 May2023, and featuring new songs by Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The live action movie stars singer and actress Halle Bailey (“grown-ish”) as Ariel; Tony Award® winner Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton,” “Snowpiercer”) as the voice of Sebastian; Jacob Tremblay (“Luca,” “Room”) as the voice of Flounder; Awkwafina (“Raya and the Last Dragon”) as the voice of Scuttle; Jonah Hauer-King (“A Dog’s Way Home”) as Prince Eric; Art Malik (“Homeland”) as Sir Grimsby; Noma Dumezweni (“Mary Poppins Returns”) as Queen Selina; with Oscar® winner Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men,” “Being the Ricardos”) as King Triton; and two-time Academy Award® nominee Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” “Bridesmaids”) as Ursula.
Directed by Rob Marshall (Into the Woods, Mary Poppins Returns, Chicago), the movie is written by David Magee based on Hans Christian Anderson’s story and Disney’s animated film by Ron Clements and John Musker. Music is by Alan Menken, lyrics are by Howard Ashman, and new lyrics are by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Disenchanted
Disney also released a trailer for new Enchanted sequel Disenchanted. The movie comes out on Disney+ on 24 November 2022.
This live-action musical comedy reunites original cast members Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel, and James Marsden and also stars Maya Rudolph, Gabriella Baldacchino, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Jayma Mays,.
Disenchanted is directed by Adam Shankman and features new songs from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.
Mufasa: The Lion King
A new sequel to Disney’s The Lion King is heading to cinemas soon.
Mufasa: The Lion King will tell the story of Simba’s father, who was orphaned as a lion cub. The origins story will be told in two timeframes by Rafiki and Timon and Pumbaa,
The animated film will be directed by Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), with a script by Jeff Nathanson. The cast is to include the voices of Seth Rogen (Pumbaa), Billy Eichner (Timon), Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Scar), John Kani (Rafiki), and Aaron Pierre (Mufasa).
There’s no official release date, but Disney have targeted 2024.
Hocus Pocus 2
Disney has also recently released the new trailer for forthcoming Halloween holidays sequel, Hocus Pocus 2.
Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy reunite for this anticipated Disney+ movie, hitting the Disney+ streaming service on 30 September 2022.
Hocus Pocus 2 also stars Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”), Doug Jones (“The Shape of Water”), Whitney Peak (“Gossip Girl”), Lilia Buckingham (“Dirt”), Belisa Escobedo (“American Horror Stories”), Tony Hale (“Veep”), Sam Richardson (“The Tomorrow War,” “Good Boys”), Juju Brener (“Vanquish”), Froy Gutierrez (“Teen Wolf”), Taylor Paige Henderson and Nina Kitchen.
Directed by Anne Fletcher (“Dumplin,’” “The Proposal”), it’s written by Jen D’Angelo (“Happy Together,” “Workaholics”) and produced by Lynn Harris (“King Richard,” “The Shallows”), with Adam Shankman (“Disenchanted,” “Hairspray”), Ralph Winter (“Hocus Pocus,” “X-Men” franchise) and David Kirschner (“Hocus Pocus,” “Chucky”) serving as executive producers.
Beauty and the Beast Live
Disney’s ABC television network in the US will premiere an animated and live-action blended special of Beauty and the Beast to celebrate its 30th anniversary. It will air on 15 December 2022 on ABC, and then the next day on Disney+.
The cast is set to include Josh Groban, who will soon play Sweeney Todd on Broadway, as the Beast, playing opposite H.E.R. as Belle. Joshua Henry will play Gaston, and EGOT winner Rita Moreno will play the narrator.
The two-hour live special reimagining is presented by The Wonderful World of Disney, and taped in front of a live audience at Disney Studios, executive produced by Jon M. Chu and directed by Hamish Hamilton.
Book tickets to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at the London Palladium until 17 September 2022.
Disney+ TV
Disney+ TV announcements included The Muppets Mayhem, in a new series for 2023 that follows the The Electric Mayhem Band full of old-school muppets on an epic, music-filled journey to record their first-ever studio album; season 3 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series; and The Hip Hop Nutcracker, from Run-D.M.C.’s Rev Run who brings a hip-hop reimagining of The Nutcracker ballet set in New York City.
