‘For All Mankind’ creator Ron Moore is preparing the first of a potential project franchise that will explore characters from Disney parks and classic films.
Disney is ready to bring characters from its theme parks and classic movies to life in a new way.
The media giant is teaming up with For all mankind creator Ron Moore will develop a franchise for the Disney + streamer set in Disney’s beloved Magic Kingdom. The first project underway as part of the so-called Magic Kingdom Universe is The Society of Explorers and Adventurers, that takes place in a world where all the theme lands and characters from Disney parks and classic films really exist in another reality.
Famous Disney fan and For all mankind creator Ron Moore will write and produce executives SEA for Disney + and 20th Television. The potential series is currently under development. Moore will successfully build the Magic Kingdom universe and oversee the entire franchise. More would expand the franchise in a similar way to the world he built from Syfy Battlestar Galactica and, more recently, what Marvel is creating for Disney +.
Disney + and 20th Television representatives declined to comment.
For the Magic Kingdom Universe, Moore is working closely with the Disney Imagineering team, the research group and developers responsible for the creation and design of all Disney theme parks worldwide. Sources say a mini-writer room is already being set up with a search underway for three senior-level writers.
The idea, according to the sources, is to explore characters – like the captain of the Jungle Cruise sea boat or the prospector of Big Thunder Mountain or the climbers of the Matterhorn, for example – as part of the world of The Society of Explorers and Adventurers. (To be clear, none of these characters or plots are currently on the table at this stage).
In addition to Disney’s Imagineering team (who appeared in their own Disney + documentation), Maril Davis and Ben McGinnis – Moore’s longtime collaborators on their Tall Ship Productions banner – are also attached to SEA and the larger Magic Kingdom universe.
The potential franchise – which has an apparently infinite number of characters and stories to explore – is Moore’s most recent collaboration at Disney since the For all mankind and Outlander The executive producer moved his general contract from his former home on Sony TV to 20th Television. Carolyn Cassidy, of 20th TV, led Moore’s deal with the Disney-sponsored studio last summer, during his tenure as president of Fox Studio that became Disney. (As part of Disney’s reorganization in December, Cassidy now serves as executive vice president of development under new president and former ABC chief Karey Burke.)
Under the multi-year agreement, whose sources estimated to be in the eight-digit range, Moore and his Tall Ship Productions banner will create and develop new projects across the Disney portfolio. His first project under the pact is the Disney + series Swiss Family Robinson, in which he is working together with Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians)
Moore received several lucrative offers from other streamers and studios, but chose to leave the money on the table to subscribe to 20th TV. Sony TV, sources say, was among those seeking a new deal with Moore. The independent studio, to whom Moore delivered the two Starz films Outlander and Apple For all mankind, offered a more lucrative deal, but Moore ended up choosing to sign with 20th TV and pursue his old passion for Disney. (Moore was also instrumental in bringing Diana Gabaldon’s beloved Outlander television novels, with Sony TV producers preparing a spin-off.)
“I decided to go there mainly because my childhood was built around many things that were Disney. I am a huge fan and fan of Disneyland Park in Anaheim to the point of periodically going there alone and cycling,” Moore said The Hollywood Reporter podcast Top 5 TV interviews this month. “The opportunity for me to start working on a lot of the classic IP that Disney has and things in its library that meant a lot to me as a child and that I shared with my kids, in the end, was something I couldn’t pass up. “Moore, who has already flirted with a Star Wars The live-action TV series with George Lucas for Disney’s ABC for almost a decade also noted that he is eager to revisit the franchise as part of his new lucrative pact with Disney.
The Magic Kingdom Universe would mark a massive integration of the Disney + brand. The one-year streamer has already revealed extensive plans to build the worlds of Star Wars and Marvel, with nearly a dozen live-action scripted series underway for both franchises. Star Wars branch The Mandalorian and Marvel’s first Disney + series WandaVision became critical and commercial breakouts for the platform. The Magic Kingdom Universe would further expand the worlds of beloved Disney theme parks and, of course, complement the list of Disney films that are broadcast exclusively on Disney +.
Moore is represented by the CAA.