It’s been two years since Disney’s film adaptation of The One and Only Ivan wrapped production and as audiences wonder which films will make their theatrical release dates and which are pushed back amidst the global pandemic, the studio has elected to set the film for a Disney+ debut on August 21.
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Award-winning Danny DeVito and Helen Mirren lead the voice cast which also includes Angelina Jolie, Sam Rockwell, and Brooklynn Prince, while the live-action cast includes Bryan Cranston, Ramon Rodriquez, Arianna Greenblatt, Indira Varma, and Eleanor Matsuura.
“The world has changed in a heartbeat,” director Thea Sharrock said in a statement. “People all over the globe have shared important, life changing experiences in ways we have not seen for a century. In response to this, I am so happy that we can share Katherine Applegate’s delightful and original story, The One and Only Ivan with the world this August on Disney+, bringing some joy through this unique movie of true friendship, inspired by a true story.”
The film becomes the second Disney feature project to skip a theatrical release and head straight for its streaming platform after the newly-released Artemis Fowl adaptation helmed by Kenneth Branagh (Thor, Murder on the Orient Express), with the studio reportedly eying other titles to skip theaters.
Purchase the original novel here!
The One and Only Ivan is being directed by Thea Sharrock (Me Before You) from the screenplay written by two-time Independent Spirit Award winner Mike White (Pitch Perfect 3, The School of Rock). Oscar and three-time Golden Globe winner Angelina Jolie (First They Killed My Father, Maleficent) is producing along with the late Allison Shearmur (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Cinderella) and Brigham Taylor (Christopher Robin, The Jungle Book).
Based on the true story of a uniquely-talented gorilla and the other animals who share a communal habitat at a suburban shopping mall, The One and Only Ivan is an unforgettable tale about the beauty of friendship, the power of visualization and the significance of the place we call home. Applegate’s book, a #1 New York Times’ bestseller, has won numerous awards, including the Newberry Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children in 2013.
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The One and Only Ivan‘s illustrated novel is inspired by the true story of a captive gorilla known as Ivan and is told from his point-of-view. Having spent 27 years behind the glass walls of his enclosure in a shopping mall, Ivan has grown accustomed to humans watching him. He hardly ever thinks about his life in the jungle. Instead, Ivan occupies himself with television, his friends Stella and Bob, and painting. But when he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from the wild, he is forced to see their home, and his art, through new eyes.
