Disney has been turning its animated hits into live-action films for the past 30 years, with varying degrees of success. Five of the studio’s 24 live-action adaptations since 1994 have grossed more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office, the latest being this summer’s hit Lilo & Sтιтch ($1.035 billion).
While the other billion-dollar hits (2010’s Alice in Wonderland, 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, 2019’s Aladdin, and The Lion King) were based on some of Disney’s most beloved тιтles, the original animated Lilo & Sтιтch was just a modest hit at the box office, with $274.7 million worldwide from an $80 million budget back in 2002.
With the live-action Moana remake set for next summer (July 10, 2026), fans may wonder what animated film Disney will pluck from the vault next. The $2.6 billion Frozen franchise may be the most obvious choice. However, another more modest hit like Lilo & Sтιтch may be the best candidate for Disney’s next live-action adaptation.
Wreck-It Ralph Would Be The Ideal Next Disney Live-Action Remake
Since Pixar’s Pete Docter expressed no interest in turning their animated films into live-action projects, Disney will likely be looking internally for their next live-action adaptation. While a Frozen live-action film will probably happen at some point after the animated trilogy is complete, Wreck-It Ralph is a stellar candidate to go the live-action route, for many reasons.
For one, it would allow the studio to get incredibly creative with casting. Keep in mind that Ralph (John C. Reilly) towers over other characters like Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer), Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), and Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun (Jane Lynch) in the animated film.
This means they could cast someone like 6-foot-11-inch Joonas Suotamo (best known for playing Lurch in Wednesday and Chewbacca in the Star Wars sequels), or even the charismatic 7-foot-4-inch Serbian basketball player Boban Marjanovic.
Marjanovic has appeared in numerous ads for Goldfish crackers and State Farm insurance, plus he has had roles in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Hustle, and, most recently, Happy Gilmore 2.
Then you could counter Ralph with someone like Hayden Panettiere — who stands 5-foot-0-inches tall — for Vanellope, perhaps someone like Kevin Hart (5-foot-3-inches) or Seth Green (5-foot-4-inches) for Fix-It Felix, and then round it out with Emilia Clarke (5-foot-2-inches) for Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun. With this diverse cast and colorful video-game world, it would certainly be a treat for any director.
Who Could Direct a Live-Action Wreck-It Ralph?
If anyone could take an animated video game world and bring it to life on a real-life studio stage, it would have to be Edgar Wright. He has already managed to bring the beloved Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World to life so colorfully, so Wright would have to be at the top of the list of directors.
Other filmmakers who would certainly warrant a conversation about directing this would be Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) and Gore Verbinski (The Lone Ranger, Rango) — who both have experience directing big-budget studio films and animated projects. Perhaps even Joseph Kosinski or Joachim Rønning could bring their experiences from Tron: Legacy and Tron: Ares to this.
It would be a challenge — on a technical level — to bring a world like this to life for a live-action project, but the characters and story of Wreck-It Ralph are so wholesome and timeless, it would be worth it.
