Disney put on a massive show for fans of the Magic Kingdom at their D23 expo, announcing everything from big changes to their theme parks and a raft of new movies, computer games and TV shows coming in the next couple of year. There was a lot to take in throughout the three day expo, running from the 14th-16th August 2015, so here’s our top ten summary run down of the latest entertainment news from the big D this year.
1. Star Wars land
Perhaps the biggest news at the expo was the announcement that Disney will be opening a new Star Wars land at both its Anneheim, California and Orlando, Florida theme park resorts. The new 14-acre land will feature everything from key locations, characters, ships and creatures from the Star Wars film series, including a full size Mos Eisley cantina and the opportunity to pilot the Millennium Falcom for yourself.
2. Star Wars movie universe expands beyond The Force Awakens
Cast members, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o and Harrison Ford, were on hand to help build excitement for the arrival of Star Wars: The Force Awakens later in 2015. However, the big news for the Star Wars cinematic universe is that the release date and director for Episode IX have been announced. The last part of the puzzle will be hitting the big screen late on in 2019 and Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) will direct, with the latter bringing out a lot of skepticism from fans that will be keen not to see a similar light-hearted treatment of Star Wars as we saw withthe Jurassic Park series earlier this year, no matter how much fun it was.
If that isn’t enough galaxy far, far away action for you, we also got to see the first cast shot from the set of Rogue One, the Gareth Edwards directed spin-off movie. You can check out the cast in the picture below with the release scheduled for the 16th December 2016. There was also a little chat about the Han Solo movie, but there was no additional news on top of the May 2018 release date, Phil Lord and Chris Miller directors and Lawrence and Jon Kasdan script, which had previously been announced.
3. Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales film details announced
While Star Wars stole the show at the D23 expo, the details about Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales gave film fans another big name series to get excited over. Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp will be back as Will Turner and Captain Jack Sparrow, with Depp putting in an appearance in full pirate costume hurling grapes at the audience.
4. Pixar and Disney Animation talk The Good Dinosaur, Finding Dory, Toy Story 4 and much much more
There’s a lot on the way from Pixar and Disney Animation over the coming years and the first up from Pixar was a preview of The Good Dinosaur, which is due out in cinemas in Autumn 2015. The next couple of films on the cards for the CGI studio will be a return to much loved fan favourites Toy Story and Finding Nemo. We already knew that Finding Dory would be returning with Helen DeGeneres in the title role on the June 17, 2016, but D23 2015 confirmed that she’ll be joined by Ed O’Neill as an octopus called Hank, Ty Burrell as a Beluga Whale names Bailey, Kaitlin Olson as a Destiny the whale shark and the duo of Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy as Dory’s parent. It was also confirmed that Toy Story 4 would tell the love story of Bo Peep and Woody with John Lasseter back in the director’s chair.
Pixar will also be returning with a brand new story to add to their growing canon, thanks to Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur both out in 2015, with Coco. It’s centred around the Mexican family celebration, Dia de los Muertos, with the discovery of a generations-old mystery and an epic family reunion at the heart of the story. The final announcement from the Pixar team was the screening of the new Inside Out short, Riley’s First Date, which will be included on the Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download release of the mind mash animated hit.
They weren’t the only ones with brand new material to talk about as Disney Animations discussed animal adventure Zootopia, set for release in March 2016, starring Shakira; an adaptation of Jack And The Beanstalk called Gigantic; and they also had a bit more on the tropical island adventure, Moana, revealing that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (San Andreas) would be playing a legendary demigod called Maui.
5. Big Disney games on the way
There are a fair few big name games on the way from Disney and it’s growing roster of franchises. The biggest is easily Star Wars Battlefront and the fan conference provided even more reason for the excitement about the game, announcing that it will feature a scene taken directly from the filming of Star Wars: The Force Awakens called the desert battle of Jakku.
Disney Infinity 3.0 was also a big feature, with Disney Interactive confirming that it will now feature characters from new and old Star Wars outings, both The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out and more Marvel action heroes. Other games to get in on the big stage love were Kingdom Hearts 3, which will feature characters from Big Hero 6, Disney Magic Kingdoms mobile games and new Bandai-Namco arcade blaster, Star Wars Battle Pod. There was also a few details on Disney’s latest tech development, Playmation, which will feature toys and wearable devices that will encourage kids to run around and use their imagination.
6. The latest on Pete’s Dragon, The Jungle Book and Beauty And The Beast live action reboots
With such a long history of family favourites in their back catalogue it was always just a matter of time before they got in on the reboot train D23 2015 saw them providing the latest on a few big guns that are planned for the coming years. The newest addition is a remake of Pete’s Dragon in summer 2016 starring Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), Karl Urban (Star Trek: Into Darkness) and newcomer Oakes Fegley as Pete.
We’ve known about the live action remake of The Jungle Book for a little while now, but the expo was an opportunity for fans to see the very first scenes from the film, so we should be getting a trailer in the not too distant future. Beauty And The Beast will also be getting a live action musical remake and Emily Watson, who will take on the role of Belle, Luke Evans, who will play Gaston, and Josh Gad (Pixels), who will star as Le Fou, were on hand at D23 2015 to showcase their singing capabilities.
7. Marvel looks ahead at Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange
Following the acquisition of Marvel by Disney a few years back, the expos have started to become as much about superheroes as they are about super cute characters and this year saw a little Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange taking centre stage. The latter will star Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role.
8. New Lion King TV movie sequel on the way
The live action reboots aren’t the only blasts from the past that Disney has got on the way as a Lion King TV movie sequel will be making its way to the Disney channel later in 2015. It’s called The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar and features a story about Kion, youngest son of Simba and Nala, as he tries to do things a little differently out on the savannah.
9. More live action movies on the way
There are a few more movies tucked away up the Disney sleeve. This includes The Finest Hours, starring Chris Pine (Star Trek: Into Darkness) and based on the true story of a 1952 Coast Guard rescue; Alice Through the Looking Glass, which will bring back Mia Wasikowska as Alice and introduce Sacha Baron-Cohen as Time in May 2016; and The Queen of Katwe, which stars Lupita Nyong’o (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as a Ugandan girl who becomes a chess master.
10. Guardians Of The Galaxy animated series
We loved the introduction to Guardians Of The Galaxy on the big screen last year and now Star Lord, Groot and pals will be featuring in a new animated series. It will be making its way to Disney XD later in 2015.
