Disney’s Club 33 Movie in the Works From Darren Lemke, Shawn Levy
A private Disney club is going public. Like, big-screen public.
Club 33, the exclusive dining club inside Disneyland, is getting the movie treatment.
Darren Lempke, who has worked on such family films as Goosebumps starring Jack Black and Shazam!, has been tapped to pen the script set in a fantastical world about the club.
Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy, Dan Levine and Dan Cohen are producing through 21 Laps Entertainment, the prolific banner behind Stranger Things and the recent Holocaust drama All The Light We Cannot See.
The project is said to exude the tone and vibes of Clue and Night at the Museum, Levy’s own fantasy-adventure trilogy set in a museum and featuring exhibits and historical figures to come to life.
For Club 33, the story centers on Kim, a young aspiring detective living in present-day New York, who receives a mysterious invite to the highly secretive Club 33. In this case, it’s a magical and exclusive dining club that exists outside of time and space. The club’s members are the greatest and most iconic members from the past: geniuses, royalty and history-makers.
When a murder is committed moments after her arrival, the patrons look to Kim to solve it. Kim, who despite her brilliance can’t seem to get out of her own way, must rise to the occasion and find a way to capture the criminal amidst the greatest minds history has to offer.
21 Laps executive Emily Morris brought in the project and is overseeing it.
Club 33 is the latest effort by Disney to seek screen inspiration from its theme parks. Adapting attractions has been a 21st-century tradition ever since The Pirates of the Caribbean became a billion-dollar franchise, which in turn fueled park interest. Other efforts, such as 2015’s Tomorrowland or the more recent Jungle Cruise or Haunted Mansion, have shown it’s not an easy ride.
Even non-marquee attractions are getting attention. Ron Moore (For All Mankind) is developing a Disney+ series based on Society of Explorers and Adventurers, while Ryan Reynolds is working on a feature on the same subject.
Club 33 first opened in 1967 and is located near the Pirates theme park attraction. It was a dining area where Disney hosted celebrities, dignitaries and friends, and for the longest time, it was the only place at the park that served alcohol. Over time, word quietly got out about the place, and it morphed into an elite stealth club that nevertheless operated in the open. The club now has outposts in Disney World in Florida, as well as Tokyo Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland.
21 Laps recently earned a PGA nomination for All the Light We Cannot See, which adapts the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Anthony Doerr. The company has Never Let Go, a sci-fi horror movie starring Halle Berry releasing Sept. 27 from Lionsgate, and Levy is about to start the extensive press tour for Deadpool & Wolverine, which he directed and co-wrote.
Lemke is a known player in the family feature space. On top of the Goosebumps franchise and Shazam!, he worked on DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek Forever After and Turbo. Most recently, he earned a credit on Kung Fu Panda 4. He also serves as an exec producer on Wheel of Time, the Amazon Prime Video series that adapts the fantasy books by Robert Jordan.
Lemke is repped by UTA and Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment.
