ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on Disney’s fan expo D23 (all times local):
4:15 p.m.
The new Star Wars-themed park expansions finally have a name: Galaxy’s Edges.
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Bob Chapek made the announcement Saturday afternoon in a convention hall at the Disney fan expo D23 in Anaheim, California.
Chapek says Galaxy’s Edge will first open at Disneyland, followed shortly by Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla. Both are expected to open in 2019.
Chapek introduced lead designer of the project, Scott Trowbridge, who said the expansion focuses on two major rides allowing guests to lead their own adventures. The first is a battle between the Resistance and the First Order. The second allows riders to take control of the Millennium Falcon.
The chairman also announced a Star Wars-themed luxury resort at Walt Disney World, which he says is “100% immersive.” Chapek did not announce an opening date.
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12:57 p.m.
The Guardians of the Galaxy rescue Thor from deep space in a thrilling new trailer for “Avengers: Infinity War.”
Audiences at the Disney fan expo D23 got a glimpse at the footage Saturday in a convention hall in Anaheim, California.
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige was joined on stage by stars in the film, including Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Tom Holland as Spider-Man, Sebastian Stan as The Winter Soldier, Elizabeth Olsen as The Scarlett Witch, and Josh Brolin as the ultimate bad guy Thanos.
In the footage, Spider-Man gets his spidey senses as he looks down to see hairs standing up on his arm and the rest of the Avengers are in a lot of trouble against Thanos.
“Avengers: Infinity War” comes out May 4, 2018.
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12:50 p.m.
Fans at the Disney expo D23 were treated to a behind-the-scenes featurette from the upcoming “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Saturday but no full trailer for the highly anticipated space epic.
The footage showed the late Carrie Fisher telling the camera that the film is about family, which is what’s so powerful about it.
A sequel to “The Force Awakens” written and directed by Rian Johnson, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” picks up with Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker on that remote cliff.
Johnson, Ridley, Hamill, John Boyega, Laura Dern, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran and Benicio Del Toro were on site to hype the film and their Star Wars fandom.
“The Last Jedi” blasts into theaters Dec. 15, or, as Disney Chairman Alan Horn said, 153 days from now.
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12:09 p.m.
The upcoming live-action adaptation of “The Lion King” just got a little more real.
Director Jon Favreau teased about a minute of stunning footage from the film Saturday at the biannual Disney fan expo, D23, in Anaheim. The scene showed something any fan of the original would recognize as the opening: Baby Simba is lifted into the air as “The Circle of Life” plays.
Much like Favreau’s “The Jungle Book,” the animals look hyper-realistic.
Donald Glover voices Simba in the film, which is a re-imagining of the 1994 animated classic. Glover is currently shooting the Han Solo “Star Wars” spinoff film in London.
“The Lion King” hits theaters July 19, 2019.
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11:50 a.m.
Mary Poppins is back and Disney fans are going wild for the return of the stern nanny and her topsy-turvy world.
Star Emily Blunt and director Rob Marshall unveiled footage from the sequel to the 1964 classic Saturday at Disney’s fan expo D23, held in Anaheim.
Blunt says her Mary Poppins pays homage to what Julie Andrews did with the character but is her own version.
Blunt says she drew on the Mary Poppins of P.L. Travers books where the character is a little more acerbic, odd, vain and weird.
Marshall directed “Chicago.”
“Mary Poppins Returns” is set for a Christmas 2018 release. It puts a grown Jane and Michael Banks in Depression-era London and will feature new songs from the legendary songwriting duo Robert and Richard Sherman.
“Hamilton’s” Lin-Manuel Miranda co-stars as a lamplighter, Jack.
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11:45 a.m.
Disney has found its Aladdin and Jasmine.
Disney production President Sean Bailey said Saturday that newcomer Mena Massoud will star as the scrappy Aladdin, and “Power Rangers’” Naomi Scott will play Jasmine in the live-action adaptation.
Will Smith has already been cast as the Genie.
The film will be directed by Guy Ritchie.
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11 a.m.
Ava DuVernay says she wanted to direct an adaption of Madeleine L’Engle’s fantasy classic “A Wrinkle in Time” because she saw herself in it.
Speaking in Anaheim on Saturday at the biannual Disney fan expo, D23, DuVernay was joined on stage by her film’s cast, including Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine and newcomer Storm Reid, who plays the film’s lead, Meg. They also showed a colorful, mind-bending teaser.
Winfrey, who was anointed a Disney Legend on Friday, cried out to the crowd of thousands that everybody gets a poster! Fans responded by chanting, “Oprah! Oprah!”
The fantasy epic was written by Oscar-winner Jennifer Lee, who wrote and co-directed “Frozen.”
It hits theaters March 9, 2018.
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