“Spotlight” scribe to re-write Disney’s live-action “Christopher Robin”

PanARMENIAN.Net - “Spotlight” writer-director Tom McCarthy is re-writing Disney’s “Christopher Robin”, bringing momentum to the live-action fantasy movie, Variety reports.

The move to hire McCarthy, who won a best original screenplay Oscar last year with Josh Singer for “Spotlight,” comes three months after Marc Forster (“Finding Neverland”) came on board to direct.

The producer is Brigham Taylor (“The Jungle Book”). Alex Ross Perry was hired in November to write the first draft of the screenplay.

Christopher and his pet teddy bear. In the books, Christopher Robin has adventures with a talking Pooh and other animals of the Hundred Acre Wood.

Forster’s film will follow Christopher Robin as an adult workaholic with little time for his family — until Pooh re-enters his life.

Disney licensed the rights to the bear 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.” Kristin Burr will oversee the project for the studio.

McCarthy is executive producer and director of Netflix’s upcoming series “13 Reasons Why.” He wrote and directed “The Station Agent,” “The Visitor,” and “Win Win.”

He is represented by Gersh and the law firm of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz. The news was first reported by the Tracking Board.