Rich Ross, the gay executive recently appointed head of movies at Walt Disney Studios, halted production of Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, on Monday in one of his first major moves in the new role.

The $150 million production, the last project approved by Rich’s predecessor, Dick Cook, was scheduled to begin shooting in Mexico in February, according to the Los Angeles Times blog Company Town, which reported via Variety.

“According to one person familiar with the situation, Ross made the decision based on creative concerns and plans to redevelop the movie, a new adaptation of Jules Verne's classic novel, which the studio first brought to the big screen in 1954,” reported Company Town.

In recent weeks Disney spent lavishly to hire star writer Michael Chabon, author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, to rework the Nemo script.