Disney Announces New Slate of Fairy Tale Movies, Mary Poppins Sequel Star is Confirmed

With the new version of The Jungle Book currently soaring at the box office, Disney are looking to capitalise on its success with a slate of new live-action fairy tale movies. The studio have announced release slots for a further five fairy tale and fantasy films over the next few years.

As reported by Collider, we can expect big budget live-action reimaginings, prequels, and sequels on the following dates:

• UNTITLED DISNEY FAIRY TALE (Live Action) previously dated on 12/22/17 moves up to 7/28/17
• UNTITLED DISNEY FAIRY TALE (Live Action) now dated on 4/6/18
• UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION now dated on 8/3/18
• UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION now dated on 12/25/18
• UNTITLED DISNEY FAIRY TALE (Live Action) now dated on 12/20/19

These are in addition to a number of films that are awaiting release, including Alice Through the Looking Glass next month, Pete’s Dragon in August, and the Emma Watson-starring Beauty and the Beast in March 2017.

While titles are yet to be attached to those dates, it is known that several fairy tale movies are currently in development in Disney. According to Sky News, it is now confirmed that Emily Blunt will star in a sequel to Mary Poppins, to be directed by Chicago's Rob Marshall. Another spinoff to a much-loved classic on the way is Cruella, a 101 Dalmatians prequel set to star Emma Stone as the iconic villainess.

Elsewhere, we can possibly expect Tim Burton--whose Alice in Wonderland made more than $1 billion worldwide in 2010--to tackle to baby elephant classic Dumbo. And previous hits Maleficent and The Jungle Book will also receive sequels.

The Jungle Book has to date made more than $528 million at the global box office, in less than two weeks. Whether other studios start to develop their own fairy tale properties or steer clear of Disney remains to be seen. It was reported last week that Warner was looking to Gravity director Alfonso Cuarón to help differentiate their rival version of The Jungle Book from Disney's, following an earlier decision to move the film's release back an entire year.