How awesome is this!
Disney Pictures is holding a open casting call for the lead role of Pete. Disney Pictures will be remaking the 70’s classic kids film “Pete’s Dragon” .
Casting director Debra Zane is searching for a 9 year old boy to play the lead role of the young boy who befriends a dragon in the Forrest. This will be a great opportunity for a young actor. The film is accepting submissions nationwide by way of self taped video auditions. Disney pictures and their casting directors are accepting submissions from boys of any ethnicity, but they must be 9 years old. While they are allowing 8 year olds to audition for the role, they will have to be turning 9 before production begins in October. Boys who are interested in auditioning for the role need to rush it because the deadline for submissions is July 18th.
The film begins production this fall and will be in production through the spring of 2015. The film is still in development but it looks like Elliot, the dragon may be flying into theaters in 2016.
The original Pete’s Dragon came out in 1977 and had a star studded cast. The original cast included Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, Sean Marshall played Pete, Jane Kean, Jim Backus, Charles Tyner and Jeff Conaway. The original 1977 film was a combination of live action and animation and the remake will follow that same route… however, I bet the animation and special effects may be a bit better almost 40 years later. The original “Pete’s Dragon” was a musical but the 2016 version doesn’t seem to be headed in that direction. Sources close to the production have stated that there is not a whole lot of singing and dancing planned in the remake.
David Lowery will be directing the classic tale of a boy and his pet dragon…. After losing his parents in a car crash at the age of four, Pete escapes to the forest where he meets a dragon who becomes his closest (and only) companion. When a nearby mill threatens to cut down the forest, Pete encounters his first humans since the death of his parents and is faced with choosing between his dragon friend and the prospect of a traditional childhood.
OPEN CASTING CALL FOR Pete’s Dragon
CASTING FOR THE ROLE OF Pete:
(Male, any ethnicity) LEAD
Looks as though he’s a part of the forest – dirty, long hair, some of it in ratty dreadlocks; his clothes are in tatters and stitched up with vines and leaves; he has lived in the forest for four years – not your typical suburban kid.
REQUIREMENTS:
Deadline July 18, 2014 – You can submit your information on the Disney casting director’s page here.
Must be available Oct. 2014 through Apr. 2015
Must be no older than 9-years old and no younger than 8-years old (8-year-olds must be 9 by Oct./Nov.)
For anyone who may be too young to remember the original or its story, check out the original theatrical trailer for the ’77 film