Angelina Jolie’s The One And Only Ivan Heads To Disney+

Angelina Jolie

by James White |
Published on

Chalk up another film skipping cinemas and heading straight to streaming service Disney+. In this case, it's the Angelina Jolie-starring (and produced) The One And Only Ivan.

Thea Sharrock directed the new movie, which blends live-action and CGI for the story of Ivan (Sam Rockwell), a silverback gorilla who lives in a cage at the Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. He has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain, and rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all. Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he's seen and interacts with his friends Stella (Jolie), an elderly elephant, and Bob (Danny DeVito), a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line. Then he meets Ruby (Brooklynn Prince), a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home – and his own art – through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it's up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren and Philipa Soo are also in the cast for the movie, which Mike White adapted from Katherine Applegate and illustrator Patricia Castelao's 2011 tome. It had been scheduled to arrive in cinemas on 14 August, but will now appear on Disney+ on 21 August. It follows Artemis Fowl and Hamilton, the latter of which will launch on 3 July.

In related release date news, Peter Jackson's new doc The Beatles: Get Back will be going back, moving from this September to 27 August, 2021. Armando Iannucci's The Personal History Of David Copperfield, which opened in the UK this past January, is set for a limited US run on Ivan's old date of 14 August. And finally, musical adaptation Everybody's Talking About Jamie is scheduled for 22 January across the pond – no word yet on whether it'll keep its October date in the UK.

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