Disney Fans Already Have The Perfect Casting For A Live-Action Atlantis: The Lost Empire

The 2001 film "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" didn't exactly meet Disney's expectations. The movie received mixed reviews, earning just a 49% on Rotten Tomatoes. It only grossed $186 million on a $120 million budget (via Box Office Mojo), ultimately ruining the company's hopes for a spin-off series and a Disneyland ride.

Yet the animated action adventure was one of the most ambitious films the studio had ever made. Co-directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise were inspired by the work of Jules Verne while also incorporating steampunk, Atlantean mythology, and the designs of comic book artist Mike Mignola into the finished product (via Collider). As a result, "Atlantis" is sometimes overstuffed with ideas but has astonishing visuals and is still incredibly fun to watch, even two decades later.

The movie's unusual style and engaging story have earned it a fan base over the years, with SYFY Wire calling it a "cult classic." This has led to rumors of Disney developing a live-action remake, though nothing has officially been announced. But, naturally, Redditors have already begun pitching their ideas for who to cast for the likes of Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox) and Commander Rourke (James Garner).

u/ChefSeamusAran made it clear in the headline that the photo they posted in 2018 on the r/disney subreddit wasn't their creation but wrote, "I am completely on board with this." The picture in question was a collection of film stills of characters from "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" next to the actors the image creator should play them in a potential remake. The post includes Angelina Jolie as Helga Sinclair (Claudia Christian) and Sacha Baron Cohen as Vinny Santorini (Don Novello), among other dream castings for a live-action movie — though James Franco as Milo doesn't seem like the best fit at this point.

Commenters loved the lineup for a perfect "Atlantis" cast. u/Daemsi even wrote, "I would watch that movie so much I couldn't watch anything else," while u/brianna18976 said, "That is perfect casting."

However, u/earth199999citizen, like some other Redditors, disagreed with having Jessica Alba play Kida. The user wrote, "I'm not sure she's quite got the acting chops for the role," while u/houseplant-muscle believed "Kida should be played by an indigenous woman imo." Cree Summer did voice Kida in the original film, so it would make sense to cast an indigenous actress for the live-action performance as well.

When "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" underperformed, directors John Musker and Ron Clements were understandably concerned (via Collider). They were making their own Disney sci-fi action-adventure animated film, complete with CGI augmentation, and it was set to come out the year after "Atlantis."

"Treasure Planet," a space-set version of "Treasure Island," was even more expensive to make and flopped badly when it was first released in 2002 (Box Office Mojo). But like "Atlantis," the ambitious feature earned a cult audience thanks to younger generations seeing it on home video (via Epic Stream).

Like with "Atlantis: The Lost Empire," there's been an online discussion of a remake, with one recent article from Giant Freakin Robot even suggesting Timothee Chalamet would star as Jim Hawkins (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Even if Disney thought it would be profitable, both films probably wouldn't see development for several years. The studio's current calendar through 2028 sadly doesn't include either "Atlantis" or "Treasure Planet" as part of the roster of upcoming film and franchise releases (via Insider). Never say never, but it doesn't seem like a real-life Hawkins will be skysurfing on a big screen anytime soon.