'Tower Of Terror' Movie In The Works At Disney With Scarlett Johansson Set To Star

Disney has another ride they want to turn into a movie: Tower of Terror. The studio is reuniting with Scarlett Johansson, who will produce and star in a feature film inspired by the drop tower dark ride located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Tokyo DisneySea, and Walt Disney Studios Park (it used to be at Disney California Adventure, too, before being turned into a Guardians of the Galaxy ride).

Collider has the scoop that Disney is making a Tower of Terror movie with Black Widow's Scarlett Johansson set to produce and star. Toy Story 4 director and Inside Out writer Josh Cooley is currently penning the script for the movie which is being designed as a starring vehicle for Johansson. There is no director attached yet, but sources say Disney is "aiming high" in their search for a filmmaker. Plot details aren't available yet, either.

The original Tower of Terror at Disney World in Florida is an officially licensed Twilight Zone ride that uses Twilight Zone music and imagery, and footage of Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling with a voice imitator to structure the ride like an episode of the show. It's more than likely that the film will drop the Twilight Zone connection. This could also give Disney an excuse to retool the ride and remove its Twilight Zone elements.

As for the ride, it's set up to resemble the once-luxurious, now-dilapidated Hollywood Tower Hotel. After some showmanship, guests board an elevator that rises – and then drops. As Wikipedia states, "Rather than a simple gravity-powered drop, however, the elevator is pulled downwards, causing most riders to rise off their seats, held down by their seat belt. At least once during the drop sequence, wide elevator doors in front of the riders open to reveal a view of the park from a height of 157 ft (48 m); however, the drop is only 130 ft (40 m), the height of a 13-story building. The elevator drops at a top speed of 39 miles per hour (63 km/h)."

It's worth noting that this won't be the first Tower of Terror movie. Back in 1997, Disney produced a made-for-TV Tower of Terror movie that starred Steve Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst. Part of the film was even shot at the actual attraction in Orlando. In that film, "A journalist (Steve Guttenberg) and helpers (Kirsten Dunst, Nia Peeples) investigate a 1939 mystery in which five people vanished from a hotel elevator on Halloween." The film isn't available to stream, but you can buy a used DVD for $6 on Amazon, should the mood strike you.

It's almost guaranteed that the new Tower of Terror movie will have nothing to do with this 1997 made-for-TV movie. But just remember: Kirsten Dunst got there first.