‘End Of The Tour’ Director James Ponsoldt And Disney Will Explore The ‘Wild City’
DirectorJames Ponsoldthas been making some high-quality dramas over the past few years.Smashed(seen above),The Spectacular Now, andThe End of the Tourare strong films with great performances. Right now, Ponsoldt is busy withhis adaptationof Dave Eggers’The Circle, and after he’s finished that picture, he may tackle his first major studio film,Wild City.
Below, learn more about the James PonsoldtWild Cityproject.
The Hollywood Reporterbroke the news of Ponsoldt’s CG/live-action hybrid film. The Disney project is in early stages of development, but Ponsoldt will write and direct the movie based on his original idea. Since there’s no script and this is an original story, little is known about the plot, butWild Citywill show some of Los Angeles' wildlife go on an adventure. Ponsoldt is producing the film as well, while Disney’sLouie Provostwill oversee the project.
An original CG/live-action hybrid is certainly an ambitious first studio film for Ponsoldt, but it’s refreshing to see a talented filmmaker such as himself make that big leap without directing a reboot, sequel, or comic book adaptation. After the acclaim and notable success ofThe Spectacular Now, it wouldn’t be surprising if Ponsoldt received offers to direct some sort of tentpole film.
Instead of maybe making a huge studio movie, the director went on to directThe End of the Tour, an often brutal but moving drama. He’s lined up a few other projects for himself over the years, includingI Want My MTVfor A24, based onRob TannenbaumandCraig Marks' acclaimed novel “I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution.” That film would show the rise of MTV, and it’s a project — whichBrett Ratnerwas once attached to direct for Sony — that Ponsoldt is also writing. TheSpectacular Nowdirector was also once involved withChanning Tatum’s upcomingdirectorial debut,Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, but he dropped out.
TheSmasheddirector’s next film,The Circle, doesn’t have a release date yet, but we should news regarding a release date hopefully soon, although on IMDB it’s dated for 2016.The Circlestars Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, Karen Gillan, Ellen Wong, Glenne Headly, Poorna Jagannathan, Bill Paxton, John Boyega,andEllar Coltrane. Watson plays Mae Holland, a character that lands her dream job at a tech company. The drama is a sci-fi thriller with some shades of George Orwell’s “1984.”
