FILM-DISNEY/PREVIEW Chris Pine, Jon Favreau, Chris Evans and Mia Wasikowska preview upcoming Disney films

Record ID: 143254

  • Title: FILM-DISNEY/PREVIEW Chris Pine, Jon Favreau, Chris Evans and Mia Wasikowska preview upcoming Disney films
  • Date: 18th August 2015
  • Summary: ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 15, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, NEEL SETHI, SAYING: "Like they always ask, 'Can I go to your premiere?' and I'm saying 'I bet there's going to be a bunch of them so probably yes." SETHI SPEAKING WITH MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, NEEL SETHI, SAYING: "I'm going to bring a lot of my friends because they all want to watch it really badly." ACTOR, LUPITA NYONG'O, USING TWITTER MIRROR (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, BEN KINGSLEY, SAYING: "He (Neel Sethi) has a great imagination so you just watch it unfold and try not to interrupt it, but encourage it, persuade it where necessary, and I think the working relationship between him and Jon is superb and what you see on the screen is superb. (asking reporter) Did you see the clips on the screen that we showed? (reporter answering 'No.') Oh what a shame, they are absolutely beautiful." "THE JUNGLE BOOK" DIRECTOR, JON FAVREAU, SPEAKING WITH MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, JON FAVREAU, SAYING: "He (Disney composer Richard Sherman) always says the same thing which is that Walt was a storyteller and he was excited by any new technology if it could forward the cause of storytelling, and so audio animatronics for the 'Tiki Room' or 'It's a Small World' or the 'Dark Rides', that was cutting edge technology of the moment when that first emerged. And same thing with cell animation rotorscope, locking soundtracks to picture like in 'Steamboat Willy' so I like to think that Walt would be embracing the newest technologies and seeing what he could do with them."
  • Embargoed: 2nd September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABQBCYC2CP3LMC4V7O7N8FNN41
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Disney showcased its upcoming live-action films on Saturday (August 15) for fans at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.
    Chris Pine, who most famously played Captain Kirk in the rebooted Star Trek franchise, will now lead a cast that includes Casey Affleck and Eric Bana in the January 2016 release of ocean drama 'The Finest Hours'.
    The film is based on the true story of a 1952 Coast Guard small boat rescue during one of the worst storms to ever hit the East Coast.
    "I think we haven't seen a motion picture set on water quite like this in a long time, this isn't New York City being blown up for the fiftieth time or a twenty minute action sequence at the end of the film, this is kind of relentless, very real, taken from the accounts of their journey, what happened on the water," Pine told media in a press room following the panel presentation.
    Oscar winner, Lupita Nyong'o, actor Ben Kingsley, newcomer Neel Sethi and director Jon Favreau presented the upcoming computer-generated and live-action retelling of "The Jungle Book."
    Early footage showed scenery of Mowgli's jungle and Baloo the bear, voiced by Bill Murray, singing the movie's "Bare Necessities."
    Sethi,who voices the lead character Mowgli, was selected from hundreds of kids around the country. Sethi stood stunned on stage by the audience's overwhelming reaction to the film's footage.
    Afterwards he told Reuters that all his friends 'really want to see the movie'.
    "Like they always ask, 'Can I go to your premiere?' and I'm saying 'I bet there's going to be a bunch of them so probably yes. I'm going to bring a lot of my friends because they all want to watch it really badly," Neel Sethi said.
    Film and theater veteran Ben Kingsley spoke about working with the young actor.
    "He (Neel Sethi) has a great imagination so you just watch it unfold and try not to interrupt it, but encourage it, persuade it where necessary, and I think the working relationship between him and Jon is superb and what you see on the screen is superb. (Asks reporter) "Did you see the clips on the screen that we showed? (reporter answering 'No.') Oh what a shame, they are absolutely beautiful," Kingsley said.
    The Jungle Book will be using photo realistic CGI animals blended with live-action, and director Jon Favreau reflected on what Disney's founder would have thought of the world of CG had he worked in present-day Hollywood.
    "He (Richard Sherman) always says the same thing which is that Walt was a storyteller and he was excited by any new technology if it could forward the cause of storytelling, and so audio animatronics for the 'Tiki Room' or 'It's a Small World' or the 'Dark Rides', that was cutting edge technology of the moment when that first emerged. And same thing with cell animation rotorscope, locking soundtracks to picture like in 'Steamboat Willy' so I like to think that Walt would be embracing the newest technologies and seeing what he could do with them," Favreau told Reuters.
    Actors Chris Evans and Anthony Mackie, from 'Captain America, gave their Star Wars/Marvel match-up they'd most like to see happen. They pitted Marvel's Falcon against the iconic Chewbacca.
    "I would definitely like to fight Chewbacca, I said that 'in your face," Mackie answered looking very serious.
    "I think you'd beat him," Evans said.
    "Come get it Chewbacca, come get it homie. (Evans: I think you'd beat him.) All day. Everyday of the week, I've been doing my Tae-bo, I'd take him out. Billy Blanks," Mackie continued, playing out the scenario.
    "Bring it Chewbacca, bring it. I'll watch it, I'll bet on it," Evans said.
    "You can't see me homie, (does Chewbacca yell) see, I said it in Chewbaccan, see what I mean," Mackie said, doing his best Chewbacca imitation.
    The film will hit theaters in May 2016, also slated for that month is Disney's 'Alice Through the Looking Glass'.
    Actor Mia Wasikowska will reprise her role as Alice in the Lewis Carroll classic.
    "You know there's been so much time in between, it's kind of unexpected, I feel kind of, a lot more grown-up and it's nice to be in that situation, and also be a little bit more, kind of mature and relate differently to the cast and crew," Wasikowska said.
    "Jurassic World" actor, Bryce Dallas Howard, has traded dinosaurs for dragons, a transition the American actor found tricky to navigate at first.
    "You know what there were many times when I was on set of 'Pete's Dragon' and I would just be like 'Where's the eyeline for the raptors?' Where's the dinosaur?' and they'd be like 'It's a dragon Bryce, it's a dragon' and I'm like 'Right, right, it's a dragon this time.' So I guess area is my little niche here just like big, mythical, reptilian creatures," Howard said.
    Disney and Lucasfilm are also releasing the much anticipated 'Star Wars : The Force Awakens' on December 18, 2015.
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