Pete’s Dragon is getting a remake. The integration of the animated dragon Elliot in a live-action world from the original 1977 movie is still pretty amazing to see. There is something so charming about hand-drawn animation mixing with real people that I cannot put my finger on. I think it is knowing it’s artificial and embracing it. That said, my guess is this upcoming remake, directed by David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints), will not be going that route. They will be using CGI for the dragon and probably try to make it as “realistic” as possible, alienating the audience even more. However, my distaste with CGI is not what this article is about.
Robert Redford, in a pretty surprising move, is in early talks to join the remake. He would play a townsperson who tells tales of dragons no one listens to. This and his appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier are pretty baffling to me, as it seems Redford had pretty much given up on mainstream Hollywood fare and chose small projects that interested him. Maybe he needs some money. Or All is Lost took a lot out of him, and he needs some easy stuff to do.
He would join Oakes Fegley (Boardwalk Empire) as Pete and Oona Laurence (Matilda the Musical) as the daughter of a mill owner. I am unfamiliar with Fegley, but when I saw Matilda last year, Laurence was on for the titular character (four actors rotated the part), and I was quite impressed with her. I am glad she is getting some more work, and if these two actors get to work with Redford, they do not even know how awesome an opportunity that is.
Original report from The Hollywood Reporter
