Disney+ Scraps Planned ‘Holes’ Series Adaptation, Leaving Fans in a Hole

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Disney+ has made the final decision to cancel the movie ‘Holes’, which was a redo of the favourite movie of 2003. The news was very first announced by Deadline, and it marks the end of a venture that wanted to revisit the tattered tale of Stanley Yelnats and Camp Green Lake. The judgment has stirred a variety of feelings amongst the fans of the original film and the book.

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It is a pretty classic case of development hell. One day the project is announced with a lot of excitement, and the very next day, it gets quietly buried in the desert. As per the report, the series pilot which would feature a gender-swapped lead with Shay Rudolph in the lead along with Greg Kinnear and Aidy Bryant was simply not up to the mark for the studio. A source disclosed that it was not to the high standards of the company, thus the decision to kill it before it even got to production.

The 2003 film, directed by Andrew Davis and starring Shia LaBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, and Jon Voight, was itself an adaptation of Louis Sachar’s award-winning novel. It was a financial success and has continued for a generation as a cult favorite. The idea of extending that world into a series was a natural decision for a streaming service that is looking for recognizable intellectual property. And yet we find ourselves in this situation.

The online public response was a mix of disappointment, acceptance, and even approval. A great number of people felt very upset about it. One user lamented, ‘What a shame that the Holes series is gathering dust. The cast and the story of the movie are still very appealing.’ Another person stated, ‘So sad! I was really looking forward to the ‘Holes’ series. Who knows, maybe it will find a new home someday!’

On the other hand, many comments suggested that the cord cutting was a wise decision. One of the prevalent concepts was that some classics should be left untouched. ‘They should just let the movie be,’ one person said in a straightforward manner. Another remarked, ‘To be honest, the movie is great and did not require a series adaptation at all. Therefore, it is actually a good decision on Disney’s part!’

The announcement has also resulted in a flood of puns, simply as the internet can’t resist it. ‘I guess Disney+ decided not to dig any further,’ one person quipped. ‘Disney created the pit and still couldn’t finish it,’ another one said. ‘Looks like we are again trapped in the pit,’ a third person commented, illustrating the cyclic nature of the Hollywood story development perfectly.

Criticism was directed at the overall strategy of Disney in some of the responses. ‘Disney is once again refusing to accept good ideas,’ was one comment. Another user was more pointed: ‘This is the reason why Disney is hated. They ruined my only childhood show’—a sentiment that, although maybe not directly about Holes, still reflects a wider ire with how the big-budget studios handle their nostalgic properties.

Furthermore, there was a lack of trust in the film’s original success, suggesting a generational divide. ‘Was the movie quite popular when it was first released or was it more of a sleeper cult hit?’ asked one person. Another admitted, ‘Never saw it 😂 I must be among the older ones now lol,’ signalling that the film’s legacy is very much linked to the kids of the early 2000s.

A few people still held the hope that the project would eventually be acquired by another studio. ‘Maybe it will be picked up by someone else in the future,’ one optimistic person said. But for now, the series has met the same fate as the character’s initial dreams at Camp Green Lake: aborted and abandoned.

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This cancellation has been added to the list that Disney+ has of productions which have undergone re-evaluation or have been shelved, as the streaming market continues to change and the companies are cutting back on the content they are ready to support. This situation has highlighted the fourteen-day vulnerability from announcement to screen, where even the most profitable projects are not guaranteed opening-day visibility. In the meantime, the only option for the fans of Stanley Yelnats and his quest of breaking the family curse is to watch the original movie which, for many, is a pearl that is just perfect the way it is. This news follows other recent streaming developments, like Mark Rober bringing his engineering magic to Netflix, and the astrological wedding of Martha Louise and Shaman Durek sparking a Netflix debate. Elsewhere, Riley Burruss celebrated Black love by hosting a Netflix red carpet, while Netflix announced one last epic bike ride for the final season of Stranger Things. In other casting news, Alan Tudyk revealed his new Netflix character has a unique feature.