It's safe to say that 2013's Jack and the Giant Slayer didn't please many crowds as a modern cinematic Jack and the Beanstalk adaptation, earning mixed reviews and failing at the box office. Not to worry, though, as Disney has their own version of the fairy tale coming in the near future. The studio has been hard at work since 2015 making sure Gigantic will be the best it can be, and today they took another step forward by bringing aboard rising Pixar talent Meg LeFauve onboard.
LeFauve, who wrote 2015's Inside Out, will co-direct Gigantic with Tangled's Nathan Greno. According to Variety, she was already working on the Gigantic screenplay when she was promoted to sharing the directing chair, so now she'll get to oversee the movie from start to finish. Gigantic was first announced at Disney's 2015 D23 Expo, and is one of the studio's non-Pixar animated movies on the way, including Moana next month, Wreck-It Ralph 2 and Frozen 2.
In less than two years, Meg LeFauve has proven herself to be one of Disney most talented writers. Along with her work on Inside Out (which earned an Academy Award nomination), she penned 2015's other Pixar release, The Good Dinosaur, and she's co-writing 2019's Captain Marvel with Guardians of the Galaxy scribe Nicole Perlman. She's already a valued member of the House of Mouse, but co-directing Gigantic will allow her to stretch her creative muscles beyond pen and paper...or rather, keyboard and screen. As Gigantic is still early into pre-production, the voice cast hasn't been assembled yet, but some of the other creative talent that have been brought aboard include producer Dorothy McKim and songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez putting together the movie's music.
As with most Jack and the Beanstalk adaptations, Gigantic will follow a guy named Jack (it would be weird if the main protagonist had a different name) climbing up an unnaturally tall beanstalk and discovering a land filled with giants. This version of the tale, however, will be set in Spain during the Age of Exploration, and upon finding himself in this new place, he'll befriend a 11-year-old, 60-foot-tall giantess named Inma who "fiery, feisty and a lot to control." She'll treat him like a living doll, but soon the both of them will have to deal with the main bad guys, the 120-foot-tall Storm Giants.
During its time titled Giants, Gigantic was intended to be released sometime in 2017. However, once it gained its current title, the release area was eventually changed changed to March 9, 2018. Then three months ago, Disney move Gigantic's release date down further to make room for Wreck-It Ralph 2, but Meg LeFauve's promotion shows that they're still giving this movie its due attention.
Gigantic is currently slated to be released in theaters on November 21, 2018.
