Knowing the movies that are slated to be released from Disney, Marvel Studios & Lucasfilm, I was extremely excited to see what their D23 Expo panel had in store for us!
My Top 4 Favorite Moments
- Oprah Winfrey saying she had “A Wrinkle In Time” Posters for us and then going on to say “You get a poster”, “You get a poster”, “You get a poster”… if you are an Oprah Winfrey fan, you can appreciate why this was a classic moment.
- Seeing a “Circle of Life” clip of the live-action film, The Lion King. It literally gave me goosebumps.
- Mark Hamil paying tribute to Carrie Fisher in his own way. Even referencing that had she been there with him, she might have flicked him off twice already.
- Seeing a clip of the Avengers: Infinity War (which is going to be epic) and then seeing so many of the Super Heroes from that film on stage. One by one they kept announcing them, including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Mackie, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Josh Brolin, Don Cheadle, Sebastian Stan, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan and Pom Klementieff.
Disney, Marvel Studios & Lucasfilm Live Action Films Panel Highlights
- Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and Chris Pine came out to introduce Wrinkle In Time.
*Opens in theaters everywhere on March 9, 2018.
- Los Angeles-based dancer Lil Buck performed a kind of street dancing—called jookin to represent the way his character moves in “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms”. It was Amazing!!!!
*Open in theaters everywhere on November 2, 2018.
- Emily Blunt, the star of Disney’s sequel Mary Poppins Returns coming on stage to tell us about the film. They showed us a small clip and I think that everyone in the arena gasped when we saw her coming down from the clouds.
*Opens in theaters everywhere on December 25, 2018.
- They showed us a video of filmmaker Tim Burton, who was in London, about directing his next project—a live-action reimagining of Disney’s 1941 animated classic Dumbo.
*Flies into theaters everywhere on March 29, 2019.
- The Lion King’s Director Jon Favreau came on to stage (to a thunderous applause…especially after having seen the clip) and shared that they are “are introducing all-new filmmaking techniques that promise striking visuals never before seen on the big screen—bringing celebrated characters to life in a whole new way.”
*Roars into theaters everywhere on July 19, 2019.
- Alan Horn welcomed talent from the film of the latest chapter in the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. We were able to hear from Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern and Benicio Del Toro.
*Opens in theaters everywhere on December 15th.
Disney, Marvel Studios & Lucasfilm Live Action Films Panel Fun Facts
- The rumors are true, Dwayne Johnson is working with Disney again in a live-action nod to the popular theme park ride, JungleCruise.
- A live-action take on Disney’s 1998 feature, Mulan, is happening which will be helmed by Niki Caro.
- A live-action take on Disney’s Aladdin is happening. It will be directed by Guy Ritchie, with Mena Massoud as Aladdin, Naomi Scott as Jasmine and Will Smith as the Genie.
- Alan Menken is writing new songs with Lin-Manuel for the Live-action film, The Little Mermaid.
- Avengers Infinity War will feature every super hero introduced in previous Marvel films.
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