Rumors persist that Final Fantasy and Disney cross-over series Kingdom Hearts is possibly getting the live-action Disney treatment on Disney Plus.
The Rumor
According to the blog Inside the Magic, which reports almost exclusively on Disney news, a Kingdom Hearts TV series may be in the works. However despite the building hype about the possible series on Twitter, the Kingdom Hearts live-action series remains only an unconfirmed rumor.
Grace Randolph of Beyond the Trailer has allegedly been in contact with sources who have divulged that multiple Disney projects are underway. These projects include at least an upcoming remake of the 2001 animated Atlantis movie, and the rumored Kingdom Hearts series.
The progress in production is being attributed to the current coronavirus pandemic, claiming that because screenwriters are able to work from home they are able to get ahead on projects such as these.
“Talking to a source re the projects #Disney is developing
#Atlantis Movie
#KingdomHearts for #DisneyPlus
and they pointed out there are so many because of the pandemic!
Screenwriters still able to work at home + wants to announce big projects to help image for stock market!”
UPDATE: Jeremy Conrad (founder and Editor in Chief) of Marvel, DC, and Star Wars movie news websites, also cryptically claims the rumor is true. While Skyler Shuler (Editor in Chief of the DisInsider) claims this is true, he claims the series will be CG animated (with Disney voice actors reprising their roles).
The Cinema Spot’s Emre Kaya also supports these claims (including it being CG). “Disney originally wanted to make it but that didn’t work out,” he claims, “so Square Enix was asked to create a pilot using Unreal Engine. This series is most likely not live-action, but CG animated. They’re currently casting.”
Is it True?
Editor Ryan Pearson: The first Kingdom Hearts features a world based on Tarzan, which has never been referenced in later games due to licencing issues with Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.
While none of the other games have appeared to have issues like this, it could be an issue for filming. Combined with the cultural differences between Disney and Square Enix, the highly complex story in later games could create issues.
It is likely Disney would want this game to have as wide an appeal as possible, and the plot outside of the first game may be too strange for most. Then again, perhaps the Kingdom Hearts fan base is large enough to support it.
In either case, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has shot most of Disney’s live action remake plans in the foot (including Mulan and The Little Mermaid). The fact the rumored show can allegedly continue production at home would suggest it was early in development.
Along with the inconsistent reputation of the live-action films [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] this could lead to audiences, and Disney, tempted to put this to bed before too much money is sunk into it.
Disney know they have to win audiences back after their handling of Star Wars, to play it safe. Then again, wild ideas generate interest. Plausible? Absolutely. Are we gonna see one? We would not bet on it.
UPDATE: The claims of a new CG series do not solve the issues with the story, but if Square Enix have more creative control, there may be a greater chance.
Nonetheless, Disney are infamous for having great influence over the production of shows under them. We cannot see Square Enix and Disney seeing eye-to-eye on how the show would be made and presented. Then again, who could have seen Disney and Final Fantasy characters together in an action RPG?
It is unknown at present what role if any Square Enix will have in a potential Kingdom Hearts series. For now, the existence of such a series is only a rumor, any future developments or confirmation will be posted here on Niche Gamer.
Image: PlayStation Store
