Disney's got some tricks in the D23

Disney is doing everything it can to be the only studio who makes the news this month first by making the $4bil purchase of Marvel, and now by holding their very first D23 Expo, where many an awesome announcement were made. I'll do my best to narrow it down to only the coolest and most interesting stuff.

First off, Pirates of the Caribbean 4 was given a proper subtitle, On Stranger Tides, and the announcement came from the mouth of Captain Jack Sparrow himself. A fully wardrobed Johnny Depp appeared on stage to drop the knowledge which immediately had the media wondering whether or not the next installment in the series will be based on the Tim Powers novel of the same name. Coming Soon wrangled this short synopsis of the book for your reviewing pleasure:

Puppeteer John Chandagnac, who was sailing to Jamaica to get revenge on the uncle who had stolen his father's inheritance, has no choice but to join the buccaneers who have taken him prisoner--and soon, known now as the pirate Jack Shandy, he finds himself learning to survive in a treacherous new world of cutlass-fights, sea-battles, and voodoo magic on sun-blinded tropical islands. The legendary Blackbeard is assembling a ruthless navy of pirates living and undead to voyage to the fabled Fountain of Youth, and Jack Shandy must use magic, swordsmanship, and even his puppeteer skills to free himself and the girl he has fallen in love with from Blackbeard's deadly supernatural domination.

I'm not entirely sure how they're going to write Sparrow and Barbosa into that story, but with At World's End's conclusion alluding heavily to the Fountain of Youth, this seems right up their alley. Look for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides to rape the box office in Summer 2011.

Guillermo del Toro appeared via satellite to announce his partnership with Disney to help launch their new "horror" arm, Double Dare You. DDY is looking to bring some horror into the Disney world while remaining all ages. Sort of in the vain of Are You Afraid of the Dark or Goosebumps? What is Are You Afraid of the Dark and Goosebumps, you ask? Fuck you. 

The first movie out of Double Dare You will be an original picture from the mind of Guillermo del Toro called Trollhunters. No details of the film have been released, but with del Toro at the wheel I have high hopes already. Next stop, let's reboot Tower of Terror, the Kirsten Dunst/Steve Guttenberg straight to TV movie inspired by the titular ride.

Two more quick notes on the expo. Robert Zemeckis premiered a new trailer for his motion capture retelling of A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey which gave the audience their first look at the ghosts of Christmas Present and Future. We should see this footage float its way onto the internet in the next few days hopefully in glorious HD and not via some camera phone video.

Finally, everyone knows by now that there has been a brand new Muppet movie in the works for quite some time now, but it's about to get real. The title for the script, penned by Forgetting Sarah Marshall's Jason Segel, will be titled The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made, which is also the title of an unused script developed by Jim Henson himself. We are still detail free about what the final concept for the story will be for now, but I'm sure that will something as anticipated as a new Muppet film will certainly garner some attention and we should see some details creep out soon.

Comments

[Anna]

I'm excited for disney pretty much all of these announcements have me bouncing anxiously. PS.... lol