Figment, the mascot of Imagination Pavilion at Epcot, is finally getting his due on-screen. Per Deadline, Disney is working on a film centered on the small purple dragon with Seth Rogen attached through his Point Grey Pictures banner. Set to write the film are Pokémon Detective Pikachu duo Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit.
Figment has spent much of his life at Epcot in relative obscurity. Originally created by Walt Disney Imagineers Tony Baxter and Steve Kirk along with others in 1983, the dragon has been a part of Disney‘s Journey Into Imagination since its inception. As his name suggests, he’s meant to be a physical manifestation of imagination itself and over time, he’s garnered a vocal fan base among park goers. Despite previous attempts to remove the ride or even remove him from the park, the public resistance has kept him as one of the mainstays within Epcot for years now. He’s even been promoted within his own ride, becoming the star of the now-titled Journey Into Imagination With Figment.
In that regard, the film is a bit of a testament to the resilience of the little purple dragon that could. He’s been on-screen in Disney films before with small cameos in Toy Story 4 and Inside Out, but this will be his jump into full-on stardom. As the star of Journey Into Imagination, he takes visitors on a chaotic tour through the five senses that shows how everything influences imagination. Currently, there are no details on the plot for his first leading role on screen though.
He couldn’t have landed a much better team to bring his story to life though. Rogen and his Point Grey production partners Evan Goldberg and James Weaver have been behind some of television’s big hits lately including the recent Pam & Tommy and Amazon’s massive series The Boys along with its animated spinoff The Boys: Diabolical. On the big screen, they’ve been behind This Is The End and The Interview, though their attention has recently turned to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem which looks to bring the classic heroes in a half-shell back to their roots after their last appearance through the Michael Bay franchise.
As for Hernandez and Samit, they’ve most recently worked on The Addams Family 2 and The Lovebirds together along with a few television projects including Central Park and the upcoming Koala Man. More than anything, their experience with bringing Pokémon’s beloved mascot to life with Ryan Reynolds bodes well for the mischievous little dragon.
There’s no word currently on when the Figment movie could release.
via Collider