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Disney's live-action Space Mountain movie writers don't give me much hope

By Matthew Liebl

Rising 183 feet above the futuristic Tomorrowland scenery, Space Mountain has taken millions of Magic Kingdom Park guests on a thrilling roller coaster ride through the cosmos since it opened at Walt Disney World Resort in 1975. (Matt Stroshane, photographer)
Rising 183 feet above the futuristic Tomorrowland scenery, Space Mountain has taken millions of Magic Kingdom Park guests on a thrilling roller coaster ride through the cosmos since it opened at Walt Disney World Resort in 1975. (Matt Stroshane, photographer) /
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Disney has reportedly found its writers for the upcoming live-action Space Mountain movie, and I've got a bad feeling about it.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec have been tapped to write the script for the Space Mountain movie which, if you couldn't tell by the name, will be based on the iconic attraction at Florida's Walt Disney World Resort and California's Disneyland.

If you're unfamiliar with Appelbaum and Nemec, the two served as showrunners for Netflix's Cowboy Bebop live-action series that was released last year and canceled after just one season.

Cowboy Bebop is one of the most highly regarding anime series. The live-action Netflix series was deemed a massive disappointment, scoring just a 45% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics. The consensus reads:

"Maybe next time, Space Cowboy -- this live-action Bebop has a fun enough crew to spend time with, but it disappointingly replaces the soulfulness of the source material with kitsch."

Fans seemed to find the show a bit more tolerable with a 60% Audience Score.

But overall, the series fell flat compared to the source material, which follows a ragtag group of bounty hunters on a series of space-faring missions to chase down the galaxy's most dangerous criminals.

Now Appelbaum and Nemec can't take the full brunt of the blame for Cowboy Bebop, but their other high-profile series — Amazon's Citadel — also hasn't fared much better. The spy action thriller, which was released last year, sits at just 51% on Rotten Tomatoes among critics with a slightly better 63% audience score.

The pair also wrote 2012's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and 2016's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. While both live-action adaptations were fairly successful commercial, they were flops with critics and fans. They received 21% and 38% critic scores, respectively. The first film only received a 50% audience score, while the sequel was just 47%.

The one bit of positive spin I can put on this situation is that Space Mountain has no traditional source material. There are no existing stories or characters related to the ride. To that end, Appelbaum and Nemec will have a clean slate to craft whatever story they see fit to represent the general Space Mountain theme.

Not having to adhere to source material might work out better for the two writers as they try to craft a cohesive narrative inspired by the beloved attraction.

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