Disney lines up multiple “Lion King” celebrations

By Sean O’Connell
Details are starting to emerge regarding Disney’s plans to celebrate a 3D release of it’s animated classic “The Lion King.”
Trailers for the enhanced version ran before the studio’s “Cars 2,”showing the entire opening sequence of the film in the converted 3D format. The full 3D version will be in theaters this October.
This morning, THR reveals that Disney also plans to celebrate the 5,000th performance of the stage musical “Lion King” at the London Lyceum.
In addition to the stage and screen parties planned for the “King,” Disney also will release the film on high-definition Disney Blu-ray, 3D Disney Blu-ray and DVD in November. It’s going to be a busy fall season for “The Lion King,” so be sure to participate in at least one of the magical events the studio is lining up.

“Smurfs” writers back for sequel, already turned in draft

By Sean O’Connell
To date, the live-action/animation hybrid “The Smurfs” has earned $106.5 million at the domestic box office. By the time you factor in international and home video sales, it will be a sizeable hit for Sony Pictures.
So you can understand why the studio is taking the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to the announced sequel.
Writers David Stem and David Weiss have been hired to return and write the next “Smurfs” movie, according to THR. They’ll once again collaborate with Jay Scherick and David Ronn on a story and screenplay. In fact, they might be further along than you’d think.
Sony, it seems, knew it had a hit on its hands, so they triggered the script for a sequel. “The early assignment was due to the large amount of lead-time required for live action/CG hybrids,” the trade reports. And that finished script was handed in “a couple of weeks ago,” meaning the studio is that much closer to getting “Smurfs 2” into theaters.
There’s no indication whether Raja Gosnell will return to direct his sequel, or if the Smurfs will stay in their forest this time (or tackle a different city). You could always bring Neil Patrick Harris into the enchanted Smurf kingdom, if you wanted to make this franchise a little more strange (like the “Harold & Kumar” films).