Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Confirmed: Burton Developing 'Monsterpocalypse'


Rumors were popping up online for a few weeks, but we now have official confirmation: Tim Burton is currently developing Monsterpocalypse. He is supposed to be directing and producing this film.

The Disney/DreamWorks movie is based on the game of the same name, which features epic battles of monsters played out on a board. Maybe Burton will exercise his fondness for Japanese Godzilla films in his project.

Game creator Matt Wilson will be a co-producer on the movie. John August will be the screenwriter, and is currently consulting with Wilson. It has also been revealed that visual effects master Ken Ralston (Return of the Jedi, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland) will be on board on this 3D movie. Ralston and Burton are currently developing the look of the monsters.

/Film described the plot:

"The plot involves giant monsters who attack earth. After the humans fight back, the monsters retreat, but it is quickly discovered that they didn’t leave, but instead burrowed underground and are sending some sort of signal into space. The humans prepare for a possible future attach and developed giant robots that will fight the monsters if and when they return."


/Film's Peter Scierra spoke with producer Roy Lee (The Ring, The Departed, How to Train Your Dragon) over the weekend. Here's the interview, containing plenty of details about this forthcoming popcorn movie:


Peter: Hey Roy.

Roy: Hey Peter. How are you?

Peter: Good. So we’ve been hearing rumors that there is a film version of MONSTERPOCALYPSE with John August writing it and many have speculated that Tim Burton might direct? I wanted to see if you could confirm those rumors.

Roy: I can confirm that Tim Burton is developing it to direct. He’s working closely with John August on story. And this is the first time that Ken Ralston was brought in this early to do conceptual drawings and the visuals for the movie itself. I don’t know if you know Ken, but he’s won several Oscars for, I guess, maybe “Cocoon”, “Roger Rabbit”, “Back to the Future”, “Forest Gump”, all those, as well as working with Tim on “Alice in Wonderland”.

Peter: This is a board game, so what is the take on the film adaptation?

Roy: The general take on the film that I can give you is that the giant monsters come to earth and start wreaking havoc. The humans, at this point, fight back. And they feel like they’ve destroyed them, but they quickly learn that the monsters that come had actually not died and just sort of burrowed underground and are sending some sort of signal into space. Apparently, it is probably going to be a distress signal. So the humans know that something is going to be coming, they just don’t know what yet. And they know how big these monsters can be. Then it cuts to many years later when nothing has come back, but the humans have prepared for possible monsters coming back. And by this time, they have developed these giant robots that will fight the monsters when they come. That is what is going to take place. But most of the movie is going to be during that battle between the giant robots and the giant monsters.

Peter: So that part where the monsters return, is that just like the first 30 minutes of the movie?

Roy: Yes. The opening is just the basic present day, and then we go years into the future.

Peter: Wow. The MONSTERPOCALYPSE universe also encompasses other properties, like Voltron. Will those properties also be a part of the movie?

Roy: Not Voltron… The company that owns Voltron approached us, Matt Wilson, to be able to utilize the robots for the world of MONSTERPOCALYPSE. But we are not using anything from there to the movie, because a lot of the robots and monsters will be created by Tim himself and the cast.

Peter: OK, cool. So John August is…it sounds like you have a script, or you have a treatment right now?

Roy: He’s writing the script right now.

Peter: He’s writing the script right now. If this happens, when does this look like this happens in the schedule? This would definitely be after Dark Shadows, I assume?

Roy: That is something that we are not clear on, just because Tim has several opportunities that will be placed in front of him whenever these scripts are done, because both scripts of Dark Shadows and MONSTERPOCALYPSE are being written as we speak. So I can’t say what would happen if “Dark Shadows” comes in great and ours doesn’t, or the opposite. So it’s really just up in the air.

Peter: how big are these robots?

Roy: These robots would be the size of a very tall building, where the crew that is inside of each one of these robots…we’re not sure how many people are manning it. It’s almost as if, like, the robots are spaceships, but they are actually shaped like robots and walk around the Earth, where you have a crew inside them, like, with a captain, controlling different parts of the robot to fight these monsters.

Peter: Do we see that? Are we inside the bridge like Star Trek, or is it mostly outside seeing them fight the monsters?

Roy: Nope. You’ll be inside the robots and watching from outside.

Peter: Oh, really cool. And how big are the monsters, may I ask?

Roy: They will be just as big. Have you seen anything about the board game?

Peter: Yes, I’ve seen many photos of the board game, but I’ve never actually played it myself.

Roy: Well, yeah. Conceptually, the pieces are…you have like these buildings, and then the players are fighting against each other playing either the monsters or the robots. And those monsters and robots are the same size as the buildings.

Peter: Well, very cool. And is Tim doing any of the designs himself?

Roy: Oh, yes. Ken Ralston and Tim are working on the design. Tim has a very distinct style in the way he handles a lot of his creatures and the images that he uses in his movies that will be, I’m sure, reflected in our movie as well.

Peter: Well, very cool. Thank you for your time Roy. I know you are probably a very busy guy. I really appreciate it.

Roy: Sure. And a couple things. Tarik Heitmann, Gerald Moon, and Doug Davison are the exec producers.

Peter: And Matt Wilson, the creator of the game is…

Roy: Co-producer.

Peter: How involved is he?

Roy: He is very involved in the sense that the writer, John August, is consulting him and talking to him about just what choice he made in the game. He’s been very helpful in just explaining some of the mythology behind some of the creatures. Because we are using some of his creatures, as well as his robots. I mean it’s going to be sort of sub-everything.

Peter: And I assume that this is probably being developed as a 3D film?

Roy: That would be correct. I mean that’s where Ken is saying there is no reason why we shouldn’t, because seeing major cities destroyed and monsters fighting with robots would naturally lend itself to a 3D movie.

Peter: It sounds like it’s going to be lots of fun, so hopefully it gets made sooner rather than later.

Roy: I’d say there is a good chance that we would be in theaters by the end of 2012.

Peter: OK. Well, very cool Roy. Thank you very much. And again, I appreciate your time.

Roy: You are welcome. Sure thing.

8 comments:

Jack said...

wow, this sounds pretty cool, this came along very quick. totally a new idea! i still wanna know what happened to frankenweenie though

deadhearts666 said...

Oooooooooooooo This sounds soooo amazing! I can't wait to see some of Tim's monsters! And that it's in 3-D how awesome is that?! I remember a while back reading an interview around when Alice just came into theaters, that Helen was talking about how she couldn't tell the difference between Tim's drawings and his son Billy's monsters. She meant it to be a complement but, it just came out the wrong way. lmao. And now I know why he was sketching some monsters and creatures. xD

deadhearts666 said...

I've been doing some research on when all of his movies are coming out. According to IMDB this is how it's listed:

The Addams Family 2014
Dark Shadows 2013
Maleficent 2013
Mai, the Psychic Girl 2013
Monsterpocalypse 2013
Frankenweenie 2012
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 2011

But according to Wikipedia this is how it's listed:

Dark Shadows 2011 (next film)
Frankenweenie 2011
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 2011
Wicked 2012 (not confirmed)
The Addams Family (3-D stop-motion animation adaptation, confirmed by Christopher Meledandri)

Who knows when they will come out?? Kind of confusing. lol.

Fuzzy Duck said...

^deadhearts666: IMDb.com is much more trustworthy than Wikipedia. Anyone can put anything up on Wikipedia. With IMDb, they list films based on some research, but that also should be taken with consideration. Just because a film is listed as "In Development" under Tim Burton's name, doesn't mean he will be directing it, producing it, or even involved with it. Those may just be the hopes for that particular studio. A while ago, Burton was attached to an "In Development" remake of "1984." There was no mention of it in the press outside of that, so it's likely that Burton was involved. Rather, the studio had him listed as a possible candidate to direct the movie. "The Addams Family" and possibly "Mai, the Psychic Girl" are in a similar state.

What has been confirmed is that Tim Burton will be directing "Frankenweenie," (2011 or 2012), "Dark Shadows" (2011 or 2012), and "Monsterpocalypse" (2012 or 2013). He will be producing "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," and Disney has attached him as a possible director for their "Maleficent" project.

Alex Graham said...

hahaha sounds awesome, almost like Mars Attacks 2! I just got back from the MoMA exhibition in Melbourne and it was breath-taking! I also got to see some early character design models for Frankenweenie made in 2008 and I really can't wait to see it.

Book Cemetery said...

Tim + Monsters = Something amazing!

I think we will see something totally different from Tim in this one. He's always wanted to be involved in a monster movie!

Jack said...

okay, thankyou Mr. Fuzzy Duck, that clears up a lot :)
Go Tim GO!

deadhearts666 said...

I know wiki isn't trust worthy. But, I just wanted to mention that different places have different reviews on when his movies are coming out. Thanks though. ^.^ I'm really looking forward for The Addams Family...I just love them. I remember I used to watch The Munster’s every Saturday morning before I went to school. Then the Addams Family came out and I loved it too. Elvira (aka Cassandra Peterson) was very pretty too, but not as pretty as Lilly Munster (aka Yvonne De Carlo). She is outstandingly gorgeous. lol. >.<