Thomas Mann Joins Disney’s Live-Action ‘Lady and the Tramp’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Justin Kroll

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Thomas Mann is set to join Disney’s live-action adaptation of “Lady and the Tramp” in the role of Lady’s human owner, Jim Dear.

Tessa Thompson is on board to play Lady and Justin Theroux will voice the Tramp. Kiersey Clemons is also set to play Mann’s wife, Darling.

The majority of the cast will play CGI characters, similar to Disney’s wildly successful adaptations of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Jungle Book,” though Mann and Clemons’ characters will be live-action roles. “Lady and the Tramp” tells the story of an American Cocker Spaniel named Lady who lives with an upper-middle-class family, but is set astray when the family has a baby. Lady ends up meeting a mongrel known as the Tramp on the streets. They embark on a romantic journey and eventually fall in love.

Dear was the human owner who decided to get rid of Lady after the birth of their child.

“The Lego Ninjago Movie” filmmaker Charlie Bean is directing the remake. It is expected to debut on Disney’s upcoming digital streaming service, which launches in 2019. Andrew Bujalski wrote the script. Jessica Virtue and Chaz Salembier are overseeing for Disney.

Best known for his role in the critically acclaimed “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” Mann was most recently seen in the Legendary pic “Kong: Skull Island.” He has a handful of upcoming films, including the Netflix crime drama “The Highwaymen,” where he will play one of the deputies who helped hunt down Bonnie and Clyde.

He is repped UTA and Industry Entertainment.