Walt Disney Animation Studios today announced that it will team with Lighthouse Immersive Studios, the producers of the blockbuster Immersive Van Gogh, to develop Disney Animation Immersive Experience, which will receive its world premiere in Toronto this December and then can be seen across the United States and other areas of the world in the next year.

Creating iconic animated stories for all ages for nearly a century, Walt Disney Animation Studios will join forces with North America’s top creator of experiential projection exhibitions to present the music and artistry within Disney Animation’s canon of films—from hits of today like Encanto, Zootopia and Frozen, to all of the classics including The Lion King, Peter Pan and Pinocchio. Audiences will feel like they’ve entered the incredible worlds of beloved Disney characters and become one with them.

Disney Animation: Immersive Experience will debut at Lighthouse ArtSpace Toronto in December 2022, and will subsequently be seen in Cleveland, Nashville, Detroit, Denver, Boston, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Minneapolis and Columbus in the first four months of 2023. Additional cities are currently being scheduled and Tokyo will be the first city outside of North America to receive Disney Animation: Immersive Experience.

“The collaboration with Lighthouse Immersive is a first for Disney Animation,” said Clark Spencer, president, Walt Disney Animation Studios and two-time Academy Award®-winner (Encanto, Zootopia). “It’s a dream to bring the best of animated storytelling together with the top experts in the immersive art experience. We can’t wait for audiences around the world, of all ages, to experience the great moments from our legacy of feature films in this incredible way.”

“Like so many of us, I have a life-long love of Disney films,” said Lighthouse Immersive founder Corey Ross. “I’ve grown up with them since childhood and so has my family. The work lends itself brilliantly to the immersive experience and I am confident this program will give our guests the opportunity to be engulfed in the world of Disney, making them feel like they’re standing next to their favorite characters and seeing the world through their eyes.”

The creative team for the Disney Animation Immersive Experience is led by Oscar®-winning producer J. Miles Dale (Best Picture 2018 -The Shape of Water) who said, “Trailblazing in a new medium is always exciting, and this is truly going to be the most challenging and rewarding project of my career. Being entrusted with Disney’s rich archive of animation is a great honour, but also a tremendous responsibility. With such a wealth of material and a treasure trove of memorable characters, it will be a thrill to bring the work of all the great Disney animators and performers to life in a 360-degree immersive environment.” Mexico City-based Cocolab is working with Dale and the Creative Legacy team at Walt Disney Animation Studios to develop the program for Lighthouse Immersive Studios. Special Projects Producer Dorothy McKim (Oscar-nominated, Get A Horse!) is spearheading the project for Disney Animation.

The audience experience will be further enhanced by Lighthouse Immersive’s Global Creative Director David Korins, (Tony Award®-nominee whose credits include more than 20 Broadway shows including Hamilton, and an Emmy Award® winner for Grease Live). Korins will develop never-before-seen interactive lobby elements that guests can enjoy before or after entering the gallery.

Ross captures the excitement both Disney and Lighthouse Immersive feel for the project as he describes how it begins: “Just imagine journeying through Zootopia with Judy Hopps, diving to the ocean floor with Ariel, flying on a magic carpet with Aladdin, and stepping into Casita with Mirabel and the family Madrigal. This is where the Disney Animation: Immersive Experience will take you.”

Collaborating with Lighthouse Immersive is the Creative Legacy team of Walt Disney Animation Studios, helping bring their library of films to audiences in a manner never before experienced.

The schedule of openings, on-sale date for tickets and prices will be announced at a future date. The public can sign up to receive more information at disneyimmersive.com.

Finally! We get the official Trailer for Francis Lawrence‘s Toronto-filmed SLUMBERLAND.

Synopsis:

Slumberland takes audiences to a magical new place, a dreamworld where precocious Nemo (Marlow Barkley) and her eccentric companion Flip (Jason Momoa) embark on the adventure of a lifetime. After her father Peter (Kyle Chandler) is unexpectedly lost at sea, young Nemo’s idyllic Pacific Northwest existence is completely upended when she is sent to live in the city with her well-meaning but deeply awkward uncle Phillip (Chris O’Dowd). Her new school and new routine are challenging by day but at night, a secret map to the fantastical world of Slumberland connects Nemo to Flip, a rough-around-the-edges but lovable outlaw who quickly becomes her partner and guide. She and Flip soon find themselves on an incredible journey traversing dreams and fleeing nightmares, where Nemo begins to hope that she will be reunited with her father once again.

Slumberland is directed by Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire & Mockingjay), written by David Guion and Michael Handelman (Night at the Museum; Secret of the Tomb) and produced by Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, David Ready and Francis Lawrence. The film also stars Weruche Opia, India De Beaufort, and Humberly Gonzalez.

SLUMBERLAND arrives November 18, 2022 on Netflix.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will are thrilled to give Readers a chance to win Advance Passes to see TICKET TO PARADISE.

Screenings take place as follows on Wednesday, October 19, 2022:

• Toronto: Scotiabank Theatre at 7:00 pm
• Montreal: Cineplex Forum at 7:00 pm 
• Vancouver: Scotiabank Theatre at 7:00 pm 

Synopsis:

Academy Award® winners George Clooney and Julia Roberts reunite on the big screen as exes who find themselves on a shared mission to stop their lovestruck daughter from making the same mistake they once made. From Working Title, Smokehouse Pictures and Red Om Films, Ticket to Paradise is a romantic comedy about the sweet surprise of second chances. 

Directed by Ol Parker (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, writer of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films) from his script with Daniel Pipski, Ticket to Paradise is produced by Tim Bevan (Darkest Hour, The Danish Girl) and Eric Fellner (The Theory of Everything, Les Misérables) for Working Title, by Sarah Harvey (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, co-producer In Bruges), by Deborah Balderstone (Palm Beach, Gone), by George Clooney and Oscar® winner Grant Heslov (Argo, The Midnight Sky ) for Smokehouse Pictures and by Julia Roberts and Lisa Roberts Gillan and Marisa Yeres Gill (both co-executive producers, the Homecoming series) for Red Om Films. 

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Re-Tweet the Contest Tweet below for an extra chance!

Rules and regulations here.

TICKET TO PARADISE is in theatres October 21, 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will are thrilled to give Readers a chance to win Advance Passes to see TILL.

Screenings take place as follows on Thursday, October 20, 2022:

• Toronto: Cineplex Varsity at 7:30 pm
• Montreal: Cineplex Forum at 7:30 pm 
• Vancouver: International Village at 7:00 pm 

Synopsis:

Till is a profoundly emotional and cinematic film about the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley’s relentless pursuit of justice for her 14 year old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi. In Mamie’s poignant journey of grief turned to action, we see the universal power of a mother’s ability to change the world.

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Re-Tweet the Contest Tweet below for an extra chance!

Rules and regulations here.

TILL is in theatres October 21, 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

LYLE, LYLE CROCODILE opens exclusively in theatres this Friday, October 7, 2022 with early shows starting THIS THURSDAY…

Based on the best-selling book series by Bernard Waber, LYLE, LYLE CROCODILE, starring Academy Award-winner Javier Bardem, Constance Wu and Shawn Mendes, is a live-action/CGI musical comedy that brings this beloved character to a new, global audience.

When the Primm family (Wu, Scoot McNairy, Winslow Fegley) moves to New York City, their young son Josh struggles to adapt to his new school and new friends. All of that changes when he discovers Lyle – a singing crocodile (Mendes) who loves baths, caviar and great music-living in the attic of his new home. The two become fast friends, but when Lyle’s existence is threatened by evil neighbor Mr. Grumps (Brett Gelman), the Primms must band together with Lyle’s charismatic owner, Hector P. Valenti (Bardem), to show the world that family can come from the most unexpected places and there’s nothing wrong with a big singing crocodile with an even bigger personality.

LYLE, LYLE CROCODILE will feature original songs performed by Shawn Mendes, Javier Bardem, and Constance Wu, written by the songwriting team behind The Greatest Showman, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul. Joining Pasek and Paul in writing original songs for the film are Mendes, Ari Afsar, Emily Gardner Xu Hall, Mark Sonnenblick, and Joriah Kwamé. Directed and produced by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, the screenplay is by Will Davies. The film is produced by Hutch Parker and executive produced by Kevin K. Vafi, Dan Wilson, Robert J. Dohrmann, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Tarak Ben Ammar and Andy Mitchell. The Sony Pictures film will release in the US on October 7, 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Sony Pictures Canada)

We’re thrilled to give Toronto Readers a chance to attend an Advance Screening of THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL, starring Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington and Michelle Yeoh!

The Screening will take place on Tuesday October 18th, 2022 at 7PM at the Paradise Theatre in Toronto. 

Synopsis:

Based on the epic international best-selling series THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL by Soman Chainani.

Best friends Sophie and Agatha find themselves on opposing sides of an epic battle when they’re swept away into an enchanted school where aspiring heroes and villains are trained to protect the balance between Good and Evil. 

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Re-Tweet the Contest Tweet below for an extra chance!

Rules and regulations here.

Netflix Canada release THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL October 21, 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

Right off its TIFF ’22 Premiere comes this new Trailer for ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT from Director Edward Berger.

Synopsis:
All Quiet on the Western Front tells the gripping story of a young German soldier on the Western Front of World War I. Paul and his comrades experience first-hand how the initial euphoria of war turns into desperation and fear as they fight for their lives, and each other, in the trenches. The film from director Edward Berger is based on the world renowned bestseller of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque.

Limited Theatrical Release:
Wednesday, October 12: Toronto (TIFF Bell Lightbox), Montreal (TBA)

Friday, October 14: Vancouver (VIFF Centre)

Friday, October 21: Ottawa (ByTowne Cinema), Kanata (Landmark Cinemas Kanata), Waterloo (Princess Twin Cinemas), Hamilton (Playhouse Cinema), Calgary (Landmark Cinemas), Edmonton (Landmark Cinemas 9 Edmonton City Centre), Victoria (The Vic Theatre)

Global Launch on Netflix:
October 28, 2022

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

THE WONDER, starring Florence Pugh and adapted from Emma Donoghue‘s acclaimed Novel, just premiered at TIFF ’22 and here’s a first look at the Trailer.

About THE WONDER:

The Irish Midlands, 1862 – a young girl stops eating but remains miraculously alive and well. English nurse Lib Wright is brought to a tiny village to observe eleven-year old Anna O’Donnell. Tourists and pilgrims mass to witness the girl who is said to have survived without food for months. Is the village harbouring a saint ‘surviving on manna from heaven’ or are there more ominous motives at work?

A psychological thriller inspired by the 19th century phenomenon of the “fasting girls” and adapted from the acclaimed novel by Emma Donoghue (writer of Room).

THE WONDER streams November 16, 2022 on Netflix.

(Photo credit: Netflix)

THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY is based on the best-selling novel of the same name and is in theatres this weekend!

Synopsis:

Based on the New York Times best-selling novel, A.J. Fikry’s life is not turning out as he expected and hits emotional and financial rock bottom. He lives alone, his bookstore is in a sales slump, and his most valuable possession, a book of poems, has been stolen. But when a mysterious package appears, he soon discovers he has a second chance at life, and love.

Starring: Kunal Nayyar, Lucy Hale, Christina Hendricks, Blaire Brown, Lauren Stamile, with David Arquette, and Scott Foley
Directed by: Hans Canosa
Release Date: 10/7/22

THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY opens Friday, October 7, 2022 as follows in:

Toronto

Montreal (English)

Vancouver

Calgary

Edmonton

Victoria

Winnipeg

Halifax

Ottawa

Disney+ and National Geographic announced the following casting of the Original Series “Genius: MLK/X,” produced by 20th Television, Imagine Television and Undisputed Cinema: Kelvin Harrison Jr. (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Aaron Pierre (“The Underground Railroad”) as Malcolm X, Weruche Opia (“I May Destroy You”) as Coretta Scott King, and Jayme Lawson (“The Batman”) as Betty Shabazz. Principal photography will begin in October 2022 in Atlanta.

“We are beyond excited to have put together the incredible foursome of Kelvin, Aaron, Jayme and Weruche to bring the depth, complexity, and humanity to these indelible icons,” said the Bythewoods. “They are all next level in their chops and their passion to tell this story.”

As previously announced, in a first for the franchise, the new season of the Emmy® Award-winning anthology series will focus on two iconic geniuses: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. “Genius: MLK/X” will explore the formative years, pioneering accomplishments, dueling philosophies and key personal relationships of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Harrison Jr.) and Malcolm X (Pierre). While King advanced racial equality through nonviolent protest, Malcolm X argued forcefully for Black empowerment, identity and self-determination. With their formidable wives, Coretta Scott King (Opia) and Betty Shabazz (Lawson), by their sides, King and Malcolm X became synonymous with the civil rights era and the fight for racial and economic justice. While they met only once and often challenged each other’s views, neither would have been as successful without the other.

In addition to casting news, executive producers Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood announced a think tank of renowned historians and experts serving as production consultants prior to the start of the writer’s room to guide the production, including the following (in alphabetical order):

Jamal Joseph (“Panther Baby: A Life of Rebellion and Reinvention”), formerly a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, is a writer, director and professor of professional practice at Columbia University School of the Arts in the film department.

Peniel E. Joseph is a writer whose book, “The Sword and The Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.,” serves as inspiration for the series and also serves as a series consultant.
Michele Norris is a columnist and consultant for Post Opinions and founding director of Peabody Award-winning The Race Card Project.

Dr. Kameelah Rashad is the founder and president of the Muslim Wellness Foundation (MWF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting healing and emotional well-being in the American Muslim community.

Dr. Barbara Reynolds is an award-winning journalist, author and minister who penned several books, including “Jesse Jackson, America’s David” and “No, I Won’t Shut Up: 30 Years of Telling It Like It Is,” with a foreword by Coretta Scott King.

Ambassador Shabazz, producer, writer, diplomat and eldest daughter of Dr. Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X Shabazz, also serves as consulting producer for the series.
Jeff Stetson, whose play “The Meeting” serves as inspiration for the series, is an internationally acclaimed award-winning playwright and screenwriter for film and television. He also serves as an executive producer on the series.

Jeanne Theoharis, a political science professor at City University of New York, is the author or co-author of eleven books and numerous articles on the civil rights and Black Power movements.
Pastor Michael A. Walrond, Jr., senior pastor of First Corinthian Baptist Church, received numerous honours, accolades and recognitions, including induction into Morehouse College’s Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers.

“We wanted to assemble a consortium of scholars and experts who can not only lend their extensive knowledge, expertise and research but also create a space for meaningful debate and discussion to ensure an honest portrayal of the complexities of these iconic geniuses. The legacies of Martin and Malcolm are critical to our understanding of the social justice movements of today, so we had to get this right. We could not have asked for a more incredible group to guide us through their stories,” added the Bythewoods.

Additionally, Channing Godfrey Peoples was named as co-executive producer and will direct the pilot episode for “Genius: MLK/X.” Godfrey Peoples made her feature directorial debut with “Miss Juneteenth,” for which she received the coveted National Board of Review Award for Best Directorial Debut and was also recognized with multiple nominations from the Gotham Awards and the Film Independent Spirit Awards, among others. Her television credits include Apple TV+ “Roar” and HBO Max’s “Generation” for directing and OWN’s “Queen Sugar” for screenwriting.

(Photo credit: Disney+)