Walt Disney Animation has some major follow-ups in the works, including Frozen 2 and Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2, but it seems that the studio has axed the only non-sequel on their upcoming slate. New reports are saying that Gigantic, an updated version of the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale that has been in the works for the last few years, is no longer in development.
The Hollywood Reporter has received the exclusive on this story, including confirmation from Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios president Ed Catmull. According to the executive, Walt Disney Animation did everything they could to try and make a workable idea out of the film, but that it just didn't progress well enough to continue being seen as a worthy investment. Catmull said in a statement,
It's impossible to know when we begin a project how the creative process will unfold, and sometimes, no matter how much we love an idea or how much heart goes into it, we find that it just isn't working. With Gigantic, we've come to that point, and although it's a difficult decision, we are ending active development for now. We are focusing our energies on another project that has been in the works, which we'll be sharing more about soon, now set for Thanksgiving 2020.
As noted, Gigantic was set up to come out on November 25, 2020, but now that release date is apparently going to get a new occupant. Meg LeFauve (writer of Inside Out) and Nathan Greno (Tangled) were set to co-direct the film, but presumably now they'll have to start developing other projects.
Gigantic was first announced back in the summer of 2015 during the biennial D23 Expo, and the movie was set to be centered on an 11-year-old, 60-foot-tall girl named Inma who lives in a diverse world full of different giant societies. The story was to be set during the Age of Exploration in Spain, and it was going to be a musical featuring songs by Frozen's Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (they even debuted one of the tracks during the special Animation presentation).
However, it was made pretty clear this past summer that Gigantic was in trouble. Crowds who showed up to the Animation presentation at D23 Expo 2017 this past July left disappointed, as the feature was entirely breezed over during the proceedings. This left many wondering if the project was still coming together, and today we have the official answer.
Right now we don't have any details about the project that Walt Disney Animation is working on to replace Gigantic during its Thanksgiving 2020 release date, outside of the fact that it will be an original film instead of a sequel, but we'll keep you updated with more information as it becomes available.
