A couple of new reports have surfaced regarding Disney Studios developing a film adaptation of Square Enix’s iconic action-RPG game franchise Kingdom Hearts.
There have been rumors about this project over the years, and while a Kingdom Hearts movie has not been officially greenlit, a film is in development.
This news comes from insider coopers DanielRPK and The DisInsider. Disney is said to be developing the project as a live-action/CGI hybrid, in the vein of the recent Sonic the Hedgehog movies.
He goes on to report that the Kingdom Hearts movie adaptation is in the works at Disney as of April 26, and if the project does happen it will be a big theatrical release.
DanielRPK also said that the next main installment in the Kingdom Hearts series, Kingdom Hearts 4, will launch sometime in 2025. That will bring the franchise back to prominence just in time for a potential movie adaptation, should Disney decide to move forward with the project.
There were previous reports that an animated Kingdom Hearts movie was in the works for Disney+. Then, back in 2003, The Disney Channel greenlit a pilot for a TV adaptation of Kingdom Hearts but didn’t give it a series order.
The decision for that came down to the difficulties in keeping the series in line with the ever-expanding universe of the games. A pilot animatic from the planned series was later published online in 2022 and was then taken down.
Kingdom Hearts blends the worlds of Disney and Final Fantasy. The game follows the journey of a young boy named Sora who, armed with a magical weapon called the Keyblade, travels through various Disney-themed worlds to battle dark forces known as the Heartless.
Alongside his companions Donald Duck and Goofy, who are emissaries from Disney Castle sent by King Mickey, Sora seeks to prevent the Heartless from consuming these worlds by closing the “Keyholes” that keep each world stable.
Fans love the narrative of the game, and it could make a pretty great movie if the story was handled properly. We’ll just have to wait and see what Disney does.
Would you like to see Disney make a Kingdom Hearts movie? What would you like to see from it?