After a four-day fan convention in which Disney Studios unveiled most of its drool-worthy upcoming projects, one of the most interesting (besides the announcement of the 500th Pirates of the Caribbean movie title) was the news of a remake of the Beatles 1968 animated classic Yellow Submarine.
According to the BBC and Billboard.com, if negotiations are successful, the film will be directed by Robert Zemeckis and will be done in the 3D, stop-motion style of Zemeckis’ previous films The Polar Express and Beowulf. The film itself features Beatles hits like “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “When I’m Sixty-Four” and tells the tale of soldier Old Fred and his submersible journey with the band (posing as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band) to Pepperland, where they meet the diabolical music detractors the Blue Meanies. While the band didn’t lend their voices to the film, they did appear in live-action promotional work.
Over at IMDB, the film has a scheduled release in 2012. According to Variety, the deal both Disney and Zemeckis are working on would also offer them the option to spin the film into a live stage show production ala The Lion King. With this movie announcement just another wave in the tsunami of recent Beatles releases, stay tuned for any more Fab Four news.
