David Lowery, who is more recently known as the director behind Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, has been hired alongside Toby Halbrooks and producer Jim Whitaker to write an updated version of Disney’s 1977 classic Pete’s Dragon. The original film was a mix of animation and live-action and featured Mickey Rooney, Shelley Winters, Helen Reddy, Red Buttons, Jim Dale, Charlie Callas, and Sean Marshall.
The plotline of Pete’s Dragon centered on Pete (played by Marshall), an orphan on the run from his abusive adoptive family while sharing adventures with his pet magical dragon, Elliott (voiced by Charlie Callas). While the original 1977 classic was done as a musical, it appears there are no plans to use a musical format for the updated film. Additionally, the core story will be recreated but no further details are available at this time.
Lowery is moving in a different direction by stepping onboard as a writer for this Disney classic. His previous work on Ain’t Them Bodies Saints was recently screened at the Sundance Film Festival. His other work includes St. Nick and Pioneer which were screened primarily to independent film audiences. This will be his first writing debut for Disney in a feature film.
