Disney has decided not to move forward with Henry Selick's untitled stop-motion feature, ending production on the film that was scheduled for release October 4, 2013.
According to a report from Variety [1], Disney notified around 150 staffers working at Shademaker Prods. in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon of the decision. Selick can now shop the property to another studio.
The project marks the first feature Alan Horn has pulled the plug on since replacing Rich Ross as chairman of the Walt Disney Studios in June. The move isn't expected to affect another Selick project, an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book [2], also set up at Disney.
Sources close to the production said from a creative and scheduling standpoint, the feature wasn't where it needed to be to meet its planned release date and the studio decided not to continue production as a result.
While the feature had been in production since last summer, Disney had yet to hire actors to voice characters. The studio also had yet to reveal any artwork from the project during its production or as promotional materials, making it easier for another distributor to pick up the film.
Selick directed stop-motion hits Coraline, James and the Giant Peach, and Disney's The Nightmare Before Christmas, produced by Tim Burton. Disney releases Burton's next stop-motion feature, Frankenweenie, on October 5.
Links:
[1] http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118057845?refCatId=13
[2] http://www.awn.com/news/stop-motion/selick-direct-gaiman-s-graveyard-book-disney