Interview: Burton on Four Upcoming Projects

MTV News had a brief interview with Tim Burton in which he discussed four of his upcoming projects, Dark Shadows (due to begin production in April 2011), Frankenweenie (which has begun some test shots in London), an animated version of The Addams Family and Maleficent (both in development with Burton attached as a potential director). While there is no entirely new information, we do get the hear the status of these projects from the man himself:

MTV: It sounds like you'll be shooting "Dark Shadows" with Johnny [Depp] soon?

Burton: Yeah, I'm working on the script, and, you know, it's been kind of a long time coming, but I think I'm getting a script that I like. I don't really like talking because I'm not really sure what's happening yet but I'm excited about it. I think, yes, finally for me, it's getting to be the right tone.

MTV: Have you and Johnny talked specifically about his take on Barnabas?

Burton: Yeah, we've been talking about it. I mean, He's finishing up another movie, but we've had a couple of really good meetings. Yeah, you know, I'm excited.

MTV: Have you started shooting "Frankenweenie"?

Burton: We just started a couple of shots. It's good. We've got a pretty low budget, but I'm excited about it. We've got a couple of shots that are done. Yeah, it's just starting. It's great.

MTV: Is it exciting to revisit that story?

Burton: We're changing it a little bit. I wouldn't do it if it felt like it was just doing the same thing. For me, it's about trying to go back to the original drawings and kind of capture that spirit a little bit more of what the drawings are. It feels different even though it's a similar story, but we're kind of expanding it a bit.

MTV: You're also working on "The Addams Family"?

Burton: Yeah, I've always been a big fan of the drawings, the key thing with that is to capture the spirit of the original artwork.

MTV: And that will be in black and white?

Burton: Yeah, that's the goal... to just capture what he did.

MTV: I spoke to Angelina Jolie recently, and she said she's a huge fan of yours and is anxious to make "Maleficent" with you.

Burton: I'd love to work with her. We're working on a script for that. It's hard to know when that script will be ready. But I'm a huge fan, I'd love to work with her -- so, yeah, that would be a good one.