‘Sword in the Stone’ remake in the works from ‘Game of Thrones’ writer

In its latest bid to leverage its animated movies of yesteryear, Disney is looking to unsheathe a live-action remake of its 1963 fantasy “The Sword in the Stone.” The studio has enlisted “Game of Thrones” screenwriter Bryan Cogman to pen the script for the project, which is in the early stages of development.

Cogman confirmed the news via Twitter on Monday, writing that he is a lifelong fan of both the film and its source material, the 1938 novel by T.H. White. Cogman also posted a photo of himself at the Sword in the Stone attraction at Disneyland with the caption “Research.”

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news about the remake.

The final Disney animated movie released before Walt Disney’s death, the original “The Sword in the Stone” tells the story of a young squire named Arthur who is mentored by the wizard Merlin and destined to become the king of England.

As a veteran of HBO’s acclaimed fantasy series “Game of Thrones,” Cogman knows a thing or two about sweeping sword-and-sorcery tales and the inherent drama surrounding a vacant throne. His other projects in the works include “Magic: The Gathering,” a Fox movie based on the trading card game, and a Paramount film based on the young-adult book “The False Prince.”

Disney, meanwhile, has been poring over its library of animated films for live-action fodder after the success of films such as “Alice in Wonderland,” “Maleficent” and “Cinderella.”

The studio has a surfeit of such projects in various stages of development, including “Beauty and the Beast,” an “Alice” sequel, “The Jungle Book,” “Dumbo,” “Pinocchio” and an “Aladdin” prequel, to name but a few. Given the sheer volume, it’s likely that a number of them won’t make it all the way to the multiplex. Even so, we probably haven’t heard the last of this trend.

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