Disney’s remake of the 1973 animated film “Robin Hood” is no longer moving forward.
“Blindspotting” and “Raya and the Last Dragon” director Carlos López Estrada shared an update in a Reddit AMA earlier this week.
“Sadly he has passed away,” Estrada wrote. “I say sad because I actually thought there was something really special (and original!) in there. Some really great music we came up with for this.”
The live-action/CGI hybrid film was announced in April 2020 to be in early development for Disney+. Estrada has been brought on board to helm the remake from a script by Kari Granlund, who wrote the 2019 Disney+ reboot of Lady and the Tramp. Justin Springer (Dumbo, Tron: Legacy) will produce.
Although the Disney project died, Estrada added, “I continue to (fantasize) about doing an independent project with another character.”
1973’s “Robin Hood” centered around the classic story of Robin Hood, Little John, and the Nottingham residents fighting Prince John’s excessive taxation, but the animated film took place in a world of anthropomorphic animals. Robin Hood was depicted as a fox, Little John as a bear, Friar Tuck as a badger, Prince John as a lion, the Sheriff of Nottingham as a wolf, and Maid Marian as a lioness. “Robin Hood” grossed $32 million on a $5 million budget, and the film’s song “Love” was nominated for an Oscar.
The status of Disney’s live-action remakes has been unstable in recent years. While the studio enjoyed box office success with films such as The Lion King, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Maleficent, and Lilo & Stitch, the last of which became the first film to gross $1 billion in 2025, not all of its adaptations were hits, leading to a change in strategy. For example, the live-action “Rapunzel” project was put on hold after “Snow White” did not perform well at the box office. The film was recently revived and starred Teagan Croft and Milo Manheim. The studio’s next film is the live-action film Moana, starring Dwayne Johnson as the tattooed demigod Maui and newcomer Katherine LaGaia as the title princess, which will be released in theaters on July 10.
Estrada is repped by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham. Granlund is repped by Verve and Industry Entertainment.
The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the development update.
