One of the upcoming remakes we haven’t heard much from in the last couple months is the Disney remake of the 1977 children’s classic Pete’s Dragon directed by David Lowery (Ain’t Them Body Saints) from a script co-written with Toby Halbrooks.
Variety is now reporting that the studio has cast a child actor to play Pete in young Oakes Fegley, who appears in two movies opening today, playing a young Jason Bateman in Shawn Levy’s This is Where I Leave You and playing Michelle Monaghan’s son in Fort Bliss. Fegley also is appearing in the final season of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire.”
Furthermore, they’ve cast a new role for the remake, Pete’s friend Natalie, who will be played by Oona Laurence, who received a Tony Award for playing the title role in the Broadway’ show “Matilda.”
Unlike the original movie, the remake is not planned as a musical and it will combine live action with CG animation, the latter used to create Pete’s dragon, Elliot.
