Bambi: Disney to produce live-action remake after success of new Lion King

Bambi has been revealed as the next Disney animated classic to be given a live-action makeover.

According to Deadline, the writers behind Captain Marvel and Rogue One are among the team working on the new adaptation, which follows reboots of The Jungle Book and The Lion King.

The movie, based on the 1942 original about a fawn finding his way in the forest after losing his mother, will be produced by production company Depth of Field (Chris Weitz, Paul Weitx and Andrew Miano), with Gevena Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel) and Lindsey Beer (Sierra Burgess is a Loser) on hand to write the script.

Depth of Field is also working on Robert Zemeckis’s revival of Pinocchio, about the wooden puppet who longs to become a “real boy”.

Last year, director Jon Fravreau’s live-action Lion King, which starred a voice cast including Beyonce and Donald Glover, took $1.66bn (£1.27bn) at the global box office, while his 2016 Jungle Book adaptation brought $966m (£739m).

Disney and the wider film industry’s new obsession with remakes has been the subject of fierce debate among critics and fans, many of whom dislike seeing beloved classics being remade.

In 2019, it was revealed that Disney’s remakes have grossed $7bn (£5.3bn) over the past decade.

Its latest reboot, the highly anticipated live-action adaptation of Mulan, is scheduled for release on 27 March.