Questlove is directing the live-action remake of The Aristocats.
The film will be his feature film debut after his Oscar-winning Summer of Soul.
Everyone wants to be a cat, but not many people want to direct cats. Count Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is in that rare latter group, as the Oscar-winner behind “Summer of Soul” makes his narrative debut with a remake of the Disney animated film The Aristocats, IndieWire has confirmed.
A person with knowledge of the project told IndieWire that the film will be a “hybrid live-action reimagining” of the original film, a 1970 animated feature film directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. In addition to directing, Questlove will also oversee the music for the film. The screenplay is by Will Gluck, director of 2014’s Annie and Peter Rabbit, and Keith Bunin, writer of the 2020 Pixar film Onward.
The project makes sense to Questlove in a way because the film’s most memorable moment is a jazz sequence set to the song “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat” — Quentin Tarantino claims the cat duchess’s dance moves in this number were his Directed by Uma Thurman inspires iconic dance sequence in Pulp Fiction.
The original Aristocats focuses on a family of Parisian domestic cats owned by the extremely wealthy Madame Adelaide Bonfamille (Hermine Baddeley). After Adelaide deeds her entire fortune to her pets, her embittered butler Edgar (Roddy Maude-Roxby) kidnaps the cats to get her fortune for himself. The film accompanies the cats on their journey home with the help of a friendly stray. “Aristocats” received positive reviews upon release and was a box office success, grossing $191 million on a budget of just $4 million.
The remake is one of many live-action or CGI remakes of classic Disney animated films currently in development. Peter Lowrey’s Peter Pan and Wendy premieres on Disney+ in April, and The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey, launches in May. There’s also a ‘Snow White’ movie starring Rachel Zegler, which is expected in 2024, and a prequel to the 2019 ‘The Lion King’ remake by Barry Jenkins.
Best known for his work as the drummer and frontman for The Roots, who serve as the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Questlove made his directorial debut in 2021 with Summer of Soul, a documentary about the 1969 Harlem cultural festival. The film received critical acclaim and won Best Documentary at the Academy Awards.
Questlove Executive is producing The Aristocats via its production banner, Two One Five Entertainment, along with Tarik Trotter, Shawn Gee and Zarah Zohlman. Gluck is producing the film through his Olive Bridge company.
Questlove is managed by Shawn Gee and represented by WME.
Deadline was the first to report news about The Aristocats remake.
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https://www.indiewire.com/2023/03/questlove-to-direct-live-action-aristocats-remake-1234823295/ Questlove is directing the live-action remake of The Aristocats.
