Disney is developing a live-action movie version of its animated “Winnie the Pooh” property, hiring “Listen Up Philip” writer-director Alex Ross Perry to write the adaptation.
The focus will be on an adult version of the book’s Christopher Robin. Perry was hired after pitching a take on the story to the studio.
The Winnie the Pooh bear character was created by A.A. Milne for a collection of stories in the books “Winnie-the-Pooh” (1926) and “The House at Pooh Corner” (1928). Disney licensed the rights to the character in 1961, leading to TV shows and four feature films: “The Tigger Movie,” “Piglet’s Big Movie,” “Pooh’s Heffalump Movie” and “Winnie the Pooh.”
Variety reported last year that Brett Ratner’s RatPac Entertainment acquired rights to the book “Finding Winnie.” Written by Lindsay Mattick and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, that book tells the story of the bear that inspired the Pooh character.
Disney recently sought box office success with a live-action version of “Cinderella” and has similar plans for an upcoming live-action retelling of “Beauty and the Beast.”
