Scarlett Johansson Offers Update on Her TOWER OF TERROR Movie "It Is a Massive... Huge Undertaking"
Scarlett Johansson has been working on developing a Tower of Terror for Disney for the past few years. The film will be an adaptation of The Twilight Zone-themed attraction that was replaced at Disneyland by Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout ride. Tower of Terror was a much more awesome and timeless ride. Mission Breakout already feels dated. But, Tower of Terror does still exist at Disney World!
So where does the project currently stand? During a recent interview on Today, Johansson offered an update saying:
It’s based off the ride. Now that the writer’s strike is all so over, we are finally able to dive back into polishing up this script. So it is a massive… huge undertaking. But, I’m a huge Disney [fan]… I love the Disney parks.
Taika Waititi has been attached to the film as a director, and I assume he still is, but anything can change. Tower of Terror was previously adapted into a 1997 TV movie starring Steve Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst. Disney’s new adaptation was first being written by John August (Big Fish and Frankenweenie), and with this one,Toy Story 4 director and Inside Out scribe Josh Cooley is writing.
There’s no full synopsis, but the film is said to be about five people in a posh hotel who take an elevator and disappear after it's hit by lightning.
August previously talked about his version of the story saying: “The central conceit was that the building's elevator moves through time. A 1920 band leader and a 2020 urban spelunker have to escape through many eras of LA history, stretching back to the Stone Age. It was a little Time Bandits, a little Groundhog Day, a little Back to the Future. I think it would have been fun. But it wasn't what Disney wanted. (And then the ride closed.)”
That sounds like it would’ve been fun! But, it will be interesting to see what Johansson and her creative team comes up with.