In many ways, Disney is the king of film franchises. Not only is the studio home to behemoths like Star Warsthat of James Cameron Avatarand the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he also has a strong track record in turning his iconic animated films into full-fledged mini-universes. This is even before they inevitably produce live-action remakes.
Last week, news broke that Disney was looking to add another valuable property to its stable: Impossible Creaturesthe middle grade/YA book series by Katherine Rundell. The books, which follow a young boy named Christopher who discovers a fantastical group of islands teeming with magical creatures, became huge hits.
More than 4 million copies were sold worldwide and Rundell became the first British children’s author to reach number one in the UK and US charts since JK Rowling. Even its journey to becoming a film has already been remarkable, as studios like Netflix and Warner Bros. fought for rights before Disney scored them in a seven-figure deal.
Impossible Creatures Landing at Disney is a huge achievement for Rundell, but it may also be huge for the Mouse House itself. If handled correctly, this franchise could give Disney something huge and restore its reputation as a fantastic juggernaut.
Disney’s Impossible Creatures Movie May Give Studio a YA Fantasy Franchise
Although franchises like Star Wars and the MCU has a lot of young fans, few would likely define them as YA properties, although they may occasionally dabble in the genre. Disney has never really had anything that can compete with Warner Bros. Harry Potter or at Lionsgate The hunger games; he didn’t really build a live-action theatrical franchise from a successful young adult book series.
The closest thing to it is perhaps its Chronicles of Narnia films, which remain very popular to this day. However, these films draw inspiration from books that have spent decades amassing an audience, while franchises like Harry Potter came to life as their book counterparts gained traction around the world and, in some cases, still releasing new installments.
Disney has tried to enter the YA space before. In 2020, the studio released its feature film Artemis Hen adaptation, a project that almost certainly had franchise aspirations. However, it was dropped on Disney+ during the COVID-19 pandemic and its poor critical reception – which came from fans of the book as well as professional reviewers – prevented him from gaining a real audience.
Since then, Disney has found success with another beloved YA fantasy series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians. However, it was turned into a streaming show rather than a big screen adventure. It agreed Percy Jackson very good, as author Rick Riordan was heavily involved in the project and supports its ability to delve deeper into the books’ history.
However, there is no doubt that theaters missed out on a reliable and hugely popular YA franchise in the vein of Harry Potter, DuskAnd The maze runner. Impossible Creatureswith its early success and acclaim, may be the perfect adaptation to reverse this trend for both Hollywood and Disney.
The fans behind YA series may be the most dedicated in the world; that there are new projects on the way to Harry Potter And The hunger games can attest to this. Fans devour the books then eagerly head to the theater to see them come to life on the big screen. For Disney, this is a huge opportunity that it cannot pass up.
This could be a new era for Disney
For so long, Disney was Hollywood’s most storybook-like studio, producing big-screen adventures capable of taking audiences from the high seas of Pirates of the Caribbean in Narnia. However, as the 2010s set in and the studio faced hiccups like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time And A wrinkle in timehe turned his back on newer properties.
Instead, Disney put all the focus on franchises like Star Wars and the MCU, and that put a slew of live-action remakes in development. Rather than being a beacon of originality, it has become the essential definition of mechanical and risk-averse cinema. Disney hasn’t really launched a new blockbuster franchise since Pirates of the Caribbean And The Chronicles of Narnia in the early 2000s.
All this can change with Impossible Creatures. Rather than producing films and remakes based on intellectual property, no one is really looking… Jungle cruise, snow White — Disney seems to be paying attention to what’s popular among young audiences Today. Impossible Creatures has the potential to grow its audience alongside the films as more books are published and more fans check them out.
Disney returning to the type of fantasy cinema it excelled at in the early 2000s would be a huge and smart move. As is clear with something like Harry Potterthe big screen adventures that viewers experience when they are young can stay there forever, sparking repeat viewings each year and the desire to pass them on to future generations.
Percy Jackson might have proven to Disney that there was power in YA worlds, but it will. Impossible Creatures this can give the studio the huge success it sorely needs. If Disney really invests in making this a vibrant and original world, it could become the next Hollywood sensation.
