BURBANK, CA - Disney has purchased the rights to the A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood franchise and has tasked famed director Rian Johnson with writing and directing the sequel: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Last Neighbor.
In the film, Fred Rogers will be depicted as a bitter, old man who doesn't believe in all that "Be kind to your neighbor" stuff anymore.
"People expect Mr. Rogers to be true to his philosophy of being kind to everyone, so it's fun and exciting to subvert those expectations," Johnson said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. "We thought, 'What are Mr. Rogers' values?' and came up with empathy, love, kindness, and being a good neighbor. Then, we decided he doesn't believe in any of that anymore. He's just a jaded old guy living in the neighborhood who yells at all the kids who come on his lawn."
The film will follow the search for Mr. Rogers. They'll find him in an old, dilapidated house on the street. "Hey, Mr. Rogers," says one kid. "We need you to come help tell everyone to be nice to each other."
"Go away or I'll call the cops," Mr. Rogers growls. "It's time for neighborliness to end."
The majority of the movie will show one spunky kid trying to get Mr. Rogers to believe in his old ways of kindness and empathy, but he'll just grumble and wander around his property mowing the lawn and shouting at children. He'll also milk an alien at one point.