Disney seeking Will Smith, Tom Hanks to join Tim Burton’s live-action ‘Dumbo’ film

Disney’s live-action adaptation list is rather long, with Beauty and the Beast arriving in a couple of months and Lion King indeed moving forward with The Jungle Book‘s Jon Favreau directing. Now Disney appears to be searching for a big name to headline their Dumbo project — Will Smith.

Deadline reports that Smith is the focus for Disney, who is “aggressively toward a production start with a script by Ehren Kruger.”

Collider added that “Smith would take on the role of a father whose children fall in love with the titular elephant at the circus. Variety notes that Tom Hanks has also been approached for a villain role, but the Sully actor may instead decide to star in the World War II drama Greyhound.”

“Smith, whose latest film, Collateral Beauty, opened in the holiday onslaught and didn’t connect with audiences, would be joining Burton, whose last fairy tale adaptation Alice In Wonderland grossed $1.02 billion,” the outlet reported.

Deadline then noted that Smith would join a parade of big stars who’ve starred in these Disney films, who have included Angelina Jolie in Maleficent, Johnny Depp in Alice, with Emma Stone to star as 101 Dalmations villainess Cruella De Ville and Dwayne Johnson aligned with Jungle Cruise. Stay tuned on this.

Smith has been shooting Bright, the Max Landis-scripted, David Ayer-directed Netflix film he stars in with Joel Edgerton.

The 1941 classic “Dumbo” will be getting a “live-action” adaptation