Disney+ Cancels Gender-Swapped Reboot of 2003 Movie Series

Disney+ has decided not to move forward with its TV adaptation of Louis Sachar’s novel Holes, which inspired the 2003 Disney film. The streaming service had ordered a pilot earlier this year, but the project has now been canceled.

The planned series would have taken a new approach by following a teenage girl at a detention camp instead of the original male protagonist. Shay Rudolph was set to play the lead role, Hayley, with Greg Kinnear cast as the camp warden.

Other cast members included Aidy Bryant as counselor Sissy, Noah Cottrell as kitchen worker Kitch, and Flor Delis Alicea, Anire Kim Amoda, Iesha Daniels, Sophie Dieterlen, Alexandra Doke, and Maeve Press as Hayley’s fellow campers at Camp Yucca.

The creative team behind the pilot included Alina Mankin as writer, Liz Phang as showrunner, and Jac Schaeffer as director. Executive producers were Mankin, Phang, Drew Goddard through Goddard Textiles, Sarah Esberg, and Mike Medavoy through Shamrock, which owns the rights to Holes.

Andrea Massaro from Goddard Textiles served as co-executive producer. The pilot was produced by Walden Media, which also produced the original film, with 20th Television serving as the studio.

The original Holes movie, directed by Andrew Davis, starred Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson, and Shia LaBeouf in his theatrical debut. The story follows Stanley Yelnats IV (LaBeouf), who is sent to a Texas juvenile detention camp after being wrongfully convicted of theft.

Campers are forced to dig holes under the strict supervision of Warden Walker (Weaver), who is secretly searching for the hidden treasure of outlaw Katherine “Kissin’ Kate” Barlow (Arquette).

The 2003 film was well received by critics and audiences. Rotten Tomatoes reports a 78% approval rating based on 138 reviews, with an average score of 7/10. The site called it “imaginative, intelligent family entertainment.” Metacritic gave the film a 71 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, signaling generally favorable reviews. CinemaScore audiences gave it an “A” grade.

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