Actress Scarlett Johansson recently shared new details about the ongoing development of her 'Tower of Terror' film project, revealing the creative challenges behind adapting Disney's beloved theme park ride into a compelling movie narrative.
The project, which Johansson is producing, was first announced in 2021 when Deadline confirmed that the actress would bring the spooky Disney World attraction to life.
Written by Josh Cooley, the film has had a long development timeline, but Johansson is optimistic about its progress despite the difficulties involved.
As per Deadline, in an interview, Johansson admitted that the project had proven more complicated than expected.
"It's a hard nut to crack," she said, adding, "Harder than you think, because the ride itself, there's some lore to it, but it's... I don't want to say thin, but it is, kind of!"
The Tower of Terror ride, which opened in 1994 at Disney World, is based on The Twilight Zone TV series created by Rod Serling.
The attraction revolves around five guests trapped in the eerie Hollywood Tower Hotel, who take an elevator ride that sends them into the unknown when lightning strikes the building, as per Deadline.
Despite the Tower of Terror's cult status as a popular theme park experience, Johansson explained that there was limited narrative material to draw from for a feature-length film.
"It doesn't have so much to dig into," Johansson said of the ride's storyline, noting that the brief plot is more suited to its thematic park experience rather than a full-length movie.
She said, "That's part of the mystery of the ride," acknowledging the challenge of expanding the attraction's concept into a story that could resonate on the big screen.
While the Tower of Terror ride had a 1997 film adaptation starring Kirsten Dunst, the movie, written and directed by DJ MacHale, did not share any connection with The Twilight Zone.
The film followed a journalist (played by Steve Guttenberg) who investigates the mysterious disappearance of five people in 1939, a storyline loosely based on the attraction.
Filmed largely at the actual ride location, the movie was Disney's first attempt to adapt one of its theme park attractions, but it received mixed reviews and never reached the same level of cultural impact as the ride itself.
Johansson reflected on the challenges of adapting a ride with minimal backstory, calling the project a "blue sky" endeavour.
"It's been a fun project to work on, because it's a blue sky project," she said, referring to the freedom of creating something from scratch.
She added, "It has also proved to be a hard nut to crack. But, we'll crack the case of it. It's taking shape!" as quoted by Deadline.
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