HAUNTED MANSION Director Wants To Adapt Michael Jackson's CAPTAIN EO as a Feature Film
The director of Disney’s Haunted Mansion, Justin Simien, has another project he’d like to develop for the Mouse House. During a recent interview, the filmmaker shared that he wants to adapt Michael Jackson’s classic ‘80s movie attraction Captain EO as a feature film. He told ScreenRant:
“Captain EO, let’s go! Listen, I know it is out of commission, okay? I know that’s not technically a ride, but I am ready. I need some singing and I need some dancing and I need some jerry curl juice in outer space immediately.”
I still remember going to Disneyland when I was a kid and watching Captain EO for the first time. As a kid, that short film was freakin’ AMAZING! The 3D at the time also completely blew my mind! That was always such an awesome movie-going experience!
The sci-fi film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by George Lucas, Rusty Lemorande and all three of them worked on the script for the film. The film ran at Disney theme parks from 1986 to 1996. Jackson played Captain EO, who leads a ragtag group of aliens and robots on a mission to deliver a special gift to an evil alien queen, who was portrayed by Anjelica Huston.
The film integrated Jackson's music and dance style into the story. This was an ambitious movie for the time and it featured some awesome special effects. Despite its 17-minute running time, the movie was one of the most expensive films per minute ever made at the time.
It would be so weird to see a full-length feature film adaptation of this movie without Jackson’s involvement. Honestly, I’m torn on this. On one side, it might be interesting to see how someone would adapt Captain EO into a feature film. On the other side, as a huge fan of the original movie, it also seems untouchable. I think this one should just be left alone.
Captain EO is an amazingly magical product of its time and there’s really no reason for anyone to attempt to adapt it as a feature film. But, who knows… crazier things have happened in Hollywood. What do you all think?