Disney is Reportedly Turning 5 Theme Park Rides Into New Movies and TV Shows

Disney has a long history of adapting classic theme park attractions into films. Some of these creative experiments have led to huge hits, like the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Others haven’t had as much impact on the cultural zeitgeist, like the long-forgotten Country Bears movie. A handful of other ride-to-movie adaptations have been announced over the years but never saw the light of day, like a macabre take on Haunted Mansion directed by Guillermo del Toro. Looking ahead, Disney has a few more ideas for bringing theme park rides to the silver screen.

Five Disney theme park attractions are reportedly being developed into new movies and series in the coming years. We have the list of which rides are coming to the cinema. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including rare Disney theme park items being sold for thousands of dollars and the full menus for this year’s EPCOT Food & Wine Festival.

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Spaceship Earth

Spaceship Earth mural of human communication over time

Spaceship Earth at EPCOT is being developed into a series for Disney+. Disney is developing a pilot, or test episode, first before deciding on whether to proceed with the full production.

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The official project description reads: “When a mission to avert an imminent global cataclysm goes awry, a small band of teenagers from Earth’s past and future must join forces to confront a threat as vast and mysterious as time itself.”

Spaceship Earth, the 20-minute ride inside EPCOT’s giant geodesic sphere, tells the history of communication from the Stone Age to the Internet. Disney recently announced the ride will be updated to focus more on “human connection”.

Variety first reported the Spaceship Earth series news in August 2026.

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Journey Into Imagination with Figment

Figment Epcot

Journey Into Imagination with Figment at EPCOT is being developed into a movie. The family-friendly dark ride in its current form isn’t very popular, but Figment himself has become beloved over the years. The purple dragon is the embodiment of imagination and shows riders how to use their senses to imagine impossibilities.

The Figment movie was announced in 2022, with no recent updates indicating its fate. Point Grey, Seth Rogen’s production company, was attached to produce the film at the time. The unanimous praise and award accolades for Point Grey and Rogen’s 2026 revival special of The Muppet Show should have Figment fans very excited about the quality of a potential film, should it move forward.

Disney recently announced that the current version of Figment’s ride, which fans have complained about for years, will be transformed. A big part of the redo will be reinstating Dreamfinder, Figment’s wise, optimistic co-star who has been absent from the attraction for nearly 30 years.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Disney Pirates of the Caribbean auction scene

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was an instant hit upon its 2003 debut, translating Disneyland‘s 40-year-old boat ride into an adventure film. Its success spawned four sequels, the most recent of which was released in 2017.

Disney has been circling a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie for years. The potential next film would once again star Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, but also introduce Margot Robbie as a new starring character.

The most recent status report came from Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of all five previous movies. During press for his induction as a Disney Legend in August 2026, Bruckheimer told Deadline, “We’re talking with Johnny, we’re working on a screenplay, and hopefully we can get this done.”

Imagineers recently added a new Audio-Animatronics pirate to the Disneyland version of Pirates of the Caribbean. The pirate’s face is projection-mapped and transforms between human and skeleton as he picks up and drops a cursed coin.

Club 33

Club 33 Disneyland

Club 33 is an ultra-exclusive, super-expensive private club that originated with a restaurant at Disneyland and has since opened locations at other Disney theme parks globally.

Disney is developing Club 33 into a movie. The story posits Club 33 as a mystical club with famous historical figures among its members. The plot involves a detective solving a murder committed at the club.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the Club 33 movie news in 2024. Disney has not provided an update on the project since.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Disney’s classic runaway mine train roller coaster, might be developed into a movie. The coaster first opened at Disneyland in 1979, and was later replicated and/or adapted for Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris.

The coaster involves a train venturing into a cursed gold mine and careening through a nearby Western town.

Deadline reported in 2022 that a Big Thunder Mountain movie was in the works, but no other news has come since.  This follows a failed attempt to adapt Big Thunder Mountain Railroad into an ABC drama series in 2013.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom recently reopened after a 15-month refurbishment with new effects.

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About Blake Taylor

Blake Taylor is Senior Writer at Mickey Visit. He has been writing about The Walt Disney Company and the entertainment industry since age 12, when Pixar hosted the world premiere of Cars in Blake’s hometown. Thousands of Blake’s news articles have appeared in Attractions Magazine, /Film, Looper, Explore, Rotoscopers, WDW Radio, The Muppet Mindset, and The Main Street Gazette. Blake is an alumnus of the Disney College Program. Education: Communications at Appalachian State University | Favorite Disney attraction: Fantasmic! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

See his Muck Rack profile here.

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