IGER UNVEILS DISNEY’S IMPRESSIVE 2014 PROJECTS

Disney chief Robert Iger dished out a heaping serving of tidbits about the company’s plans at a shareholders meeting on Tuesday. They included: 1. Production will begin at Pinewood Studios near London in May on Star Wars: Episode VII, which will be set 30 years following the events in Return of the Jedi. (The studio is still not ready to announce cast members.) 2. Brad Bird is writing the script for a sequel to The Incredibles for Disney’s Pixar unit. 3. Pixar is also working on developing a new installment for its Cars franchise. While the previous two films aren’t among Pixar’s most successful, they have produced a ton of toy sales and led to the spinoff movie Planes. 4. The company’s Shanghai Disney Resort, currently under construction, will include a Pirates of the Caribbean attraction called Treasure Cove, whose centerpiece will be a ride called “Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle of the Sunken Treasure.” Iger told the shareholders that he had recently visited the $4-billion project, “and there are construction cranes everywhere you look. … The progress is truly phenomenal.” It is slated to open by the end of next year. 5. With its release this week on DVD, Frozen is about to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time. (The movie opened in Japan over the weekend with $9.5 million in ticket sales.)