Robert Downey Jr.’s ‘Doctor Dolittle’ Reboot Getting Major Reshoots From ‘Ninja Turtles’ Director
The Voyage of Doctor Dolittleis taking the long way ‘round. TheDoctor Dolittlereboot starringRobert Downey Jr.has recently undergone major reshoots in a rehaul that was overseen byJonathan Liebesman, the director behindWrath of the TitansandTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.Original directorStephen Gaghanwas present during the reshoots with Liebesman, and will remain the credited director.
Jonathan Liebesman was tapped by Universal to slice and dice the current version ofThe Voyage of Doctor Dolittleand rework the film, according toThe Hollywood Reporter. Liebesman just came off overseeing the additional photography, which lasted 21 days (not including post-production work), based off of new material written by Chris McKay, the director ofThe Lego Batman Movie. While McKay wasn’t available for the new shoot, he did hand the baton off to Liebesman, who he worked with onNinja Turtles.
While reshoots are commonplace for major studio films, theDoctor Dolittlereboot reshoots are significant because of the film’s long delays, after Universal originally set the film’s release date for April 2019. But it seems likeThe Voyage of Doctor Dolittlewill stay in the operating room a little longer, as sources tell THR that Gaghan, who is best known for Oscar-winning dramas likeTrafficandSyriana, wasn’t prepared for “tackling a visual effects-heavy production that was also comedic in tone.” The film is meant to be a hybrid live-action/animated film that sees Dolittle (Downey Jr.) interacting with countless speaking animals animated with CG. But sources tell THR that Gaghan’s cut wasn’t able to give proper focus to those hybrid elements.
Based on the popular children’s book series by authorHugh Lofting,The Voyage of Doctor Dolittleloosely adapts the second book in the series,The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, which was published in 1922 and takes place almost twenty years after the events of the first book. Downey leads a star-studded cast, which includesTom Holland, Selena Gomez, Emma Thompson,Ralph Fiennes, Octavia Spencer, Rami Malek, John Cena, Craig Robinson, Carmen Ejogo, Marion Cotillard, Kumail Nanjiani,andFrances De La Tour.This will be the latest ofDoctor Dolittlebig screen adaptations following a 1967 musical starringRex Harrisonand in a series of films starringEddie Murphyin the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittleis scheduled to hit theaters onJanuary 17, 2020.
