When Disney fans visit the popular theme park destinations the studio has continued to build upon since Walt Disney cut the ribbon on California’s Disneyland in 1955, the many attractions reflect their favorite films and characters. Over the years, the House of Mouse have transformed a number of its famous attractions onto film, including the widely-successful Pirates movies and the Haunted Mansion comedy starring Eddie Murphy.
Disney is officially building its imagination around making movies based on rides again. Jungle Cruise is on the way, and just a few months ago, we heard Disney had a new plan to reboot The Haunted Mansion as well. Now according to a new report, the studio will also turn the Tomorrowland staple Space Mountain into its own film.
Joby Harold, who is currently involved in writing and producing the Obi-Wan Kenobi series for Disney+, has signed on to pen the script for a “family adventure” film based on the popular indoor rollercoaster, per THR. Harold will also produce the Disney film with his wife, Tory Tunnell, and the live-action Aladdin’s Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich.
Plot details here are thin, and as fans of the ride will know, the ride doesn’t offer a whole lot to go on either. During the classic ride that opened first in Walt Disney World in 1975, and then in Disneyland in 1977, riders are catapulted into a thrilling journey through space that is primarily in the dark. In the Disneyland version of the ride, Space Mountain unfolds to the sound of an iconic theme song, which was re-orchestrated by composer Michael Giacchino in 2005 guided by an eerie theremin. Listen to it below, because I’m sure it’s already stuck in your head:
Space Mountain might be the most energizing amongst Disney’s classic rides, and its popularity often comes at the price of an over-hour wait. Guests often take advantage of the Fastpass feature or look out for a sweet spot in the late evening to catch the ride, even though it has not had a particular storyline or characters attached to it in its 45-year history.
Space Mountain does often get redressed as the Star Wars-themed Hyperspace Mountain with added graphics of TIE Fighters, Admiral Ackbar’s orders and John Williams’ sweeping theme, of course. The ride has also traditionally been re-themed for Halloween into Ghost Galaxy, a sped-up version of the ride with mesmerizing and creepy space ghosts. Either way, it's all quite random and open-ended, leaving the Space Mountain writers with a lot of legroom story wise, though some sci-fi originality from the studio is naturally welcome.
Also, one does wonder which version of Space Mountain the writer is taking inspiration for the movie because the Disney World and Disneyland versions have different car designs to jump into, for one. It’s an intriguing choice for the company, considering the ride is still one of the most popular in the theme parks spread across the world. What do you think? Are you interested in the Space Mountain movie? Vote in the poll below.
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