Ev’rybody wants to be a cat, unless it’s live-action and directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, apparently. Despite Lilo & Stitch making waves at the box office to the tune of over $1 billion worldwide, it’s now confirmed that the next in Disney‘s lineup of live-action remakes, The Aristocats, has been shelved. Thompson initially revealed that the Mouse House had scrapped the project on an episode of Score: The Podcast with Kenny Holmes and Matt Schrader, saying that “I would have loved to do [The Aristocats], but there’s over 20 projects that I could get to do.” Coming off of music documentaries, Sly Lives! and Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music, he shared that he has plans for four more film projects planned in the next five years.
Plans for Questlove to helm The Aristocats were first announced back in 2023, though Disney had been publicly eyeing a remake since the start of 2022. Anyone But You director Will Gluck and Nimona co-writer Keith Bunin were attached to pen the screenplay that Thompson would’ve directed from. Additionally, Thompson would’ve overseen the music, and he revealed that he had even shared some music examples that would be included in the remake. In the end, however, a reshuffling at Disney put the brakes on the project before it could ever get into gear. “Once Disney had their third president, usually when a new administration comes in, no matter what — they’re going to reshuffle,” he said, before later adding, “by the third time, I was just like, ‘Maybe this isn’t meant for me.’”
The exact shape of Thompson‘s take remains unknown, but, like the rest of Disney‘s remakes, it would’ve hewed closely to the story of the 1970 original. The Aristocats centered on Duchess, the beloved feline of a retired opera singer who is set to receive her owner’s entire inheritance. Furious, the butler drugs Duchess and her three kittens and abandons them in the countryside, determined to claim the fortune for himself. Lost with no idea how to get back home, they’re aided by the smooth stray Thomas O’Malley, who offers to guide them back to Paris. They all go on a jazzy journey through the city streets to return to their owner, encountering other animals and experiencing a vastly different world than the life of luxury they always knew.
‘The Aristocats’ Is Just the Latest Disney Remake to Be Scrapped
Questlove‘s Aristocats was shelved in the wake of news earlier this year that Disney was putting a live-action Tangled remake on hold indefinitely. Although no reason was explicitly stated for that cancellation, it seemed the move was in response to the box office failure of the Snow White remake starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. These two incidents don’t mean the House of Mouse is slowing down on the live-action remake front, though they may be getting more selective. Lilo & Stitch‘s success spurred negotiations for a sequel with Chris Sanders, the voice of Stitch, returning to pen the new chapter. Multiple other titles are also in the pipeline, the closest of which is the live-action Moana, set to make landfall on July 10, 2026, with newcomer Catherine Lagaʻaia in the title role opposite a returning Dwayne Johnson as Maui.
via Collider