Space Mountain Movie Moves Forward at Disney With Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop Showrunners

Disney’s live-action Space Mountain movie just got its first major update in years, as THR reports that Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec are on board to write.

The duo is best known for Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, as well as Prime Video spy series Citadel. The last update we heard from the Space Mountain movie came back in 2020, when it was revealed that Obi-Wan Kenobi writer Joby Harold was on board to write the film. Harold remains a producer.

Space Mountain is Disney’s latest swing at adapating one of its Disney park attractions into a feature film following the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean series, as well as 2021’s Jungle Cruise starring Emily Blunt and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Its most recent ride adaptation came last year with The Haunted Mansion, although that was one of a number of Disney films that found itself struggling at the box office last year.

It looks like Space Mountain is still on track to get its own movie. (Photo credit: Jeff Gritchen/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images)One of the first true thrill rides at Disney parks, Space Mountain initially opened at the Walt Disney Resort in 1975 before a second version of it was introduced at California’s Disneyland at 1977. It’s long remained one of the most popular Disneyland attractions, with versions built at parks in Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong.

Hopefully, this movie will fare better than Appelbaum and Nemec’s Cowboy Bebop, which was canceled after one season after being widely maligned by fans. In addition to their TV credits, the two have also worked films like Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol and the 2014 and 2016 live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies.

Thumbnail credit: Jeff Gritchen/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.