Screenwriter Jane Goldman (Stardust, Kick-Ass, The Woman in Black) is currently in negotiations to write the script for a new version of Pinocchio, based on the original Carlo Collodi story, says The Hollywood Reporter. Tim Burton is currently attached to direct the Warner Bros. film. Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies) wrote the initial draft.
Warner Bros. is also planning on having Robert Downey, Jr. play the role of Geppetto, the toy maker who creates Pinocchio. In this version, Geppetto embarks on a quest to reunite with his marionette. Dan Jinks is supposed to produce the film (who also worked with Burton as a producer on Big Fish).
Warner Bros. Online has posted a trailer for a documentary on the history of the Batmobile. Tim Burton (director of Batman and Batman Returns, as well as producer of Batman Forever), Christopher Nolan, Adam West, Christian Bale, Joel Schumacher, and many others will be contributing to the documentary, giving a thorough history of the design, evolution, and significance of the iconic vehicle of one of the most infamous superheroes.
The documentary -- simply titled, The Batmobile -- will be previewed at Comic-Con in San Diego today, reports WorstPreviews.com. It will be broadcast on the CW on Monday, July 16th at 8:00 PM EST, and will eventually be released on Blu-ray and digital download this holiday season.
Shock Till You Drop spoke with writer Seth Grahame-Smith. The ever-busy screenwriter/author/executive producer gave a few brief words on two Tim Burton projects in development: the possible Beetlejuice sequel and a new stop-motion animated film, Night of the Living.
On the Beetlejuice sequel: "Everyone is waiting for me to get my ass in gear," Grahame-Smith said. "I just finished a script called Night of the Living, and I'm giving it to Tim this weekend. And I'm moving now into adapting Unholy Night [his latest book], which I have to deliver to Warner Bros. I've got to do this, then I'm going around the world for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, so I'll be writing Unholy Night on the plane and in hotel rooms."
On Night of the Living, which is about humans terrorizing undead creatures, a reversal of Night of the Living Dead: "[It's] not just zombies. Let me put it this way, Tim and I are big fans of classic movie monsters. The title pretty much where you're going to be at. Plus, it's a Tim Burton stop motion-animated movie. That movie for me is my love letter to all of the movies I grew up on."
Shock Till You Drop recently spoke with Tim Burton. The ever-busy filmmaker was asked about three projects that are either in development or pre-production. Nothing particularly groundbreaking was learned, but it does show that these projects are on Burton's radar:
On the possible Beetlejuice sequel: “Seth [Grahame-Smith] is writing something. I just told him because I liked the character, I just thought I’d have a better response if he has ideas about it to just let him [work on it]." He continued: "I don’t know if I’d ever know a good script if it bit me in the face, but I know what I like."
On an adaptation of Pinocchio that Burton is attached to direct at Warner Bros., from a script by Bryan Fuller, and which might have Robert Downey, Jr. in the lead: "I’m very busy aren’t I? It’s kind of embarrassing. I’ve got three movies [coming out this year]. I’m sick of me already. So, we’ll let these come out, then I’ll go away and you guys can deal with other people."
On Big Eyes, a biographical film about artists Margaret and Walter Keane starring Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds that Burton is producing, and is currently in pre-production: "Oh, I don’t know. There are a lot of projects in the works, but as you can see when something is 10 years in the making, you’re never quite sure when it’s happening."
Amazon.com will be releasing an exclusive Blu-Ray box set on May 1st, 2012: The Tim Burton Collection. The box set will also include a book, and includes Tim Burton's seven films made with Warner Bros.: Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Mars Attacks! (1996), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and Corpse Bride (2005). Click this link for more details.
The Hollywood Reporter recently spoke with writer Seth Grahame-Smith. Grahame-Smith talked about several forthcoming projects, including a script he is writing for Tim Burton for a new stop-motion animated film, currently titled, Night of the Living.
Grahame-Smith said, "I'm right in the middle of writing an animated movie for Tim Burton right now called Night of the Living." He continued: "Night of the Living is an idea I have had around for years that I'm doing with Tim Burton. When we were shooting Dark Shadows last year I worked up the nerve to tell Tim about it because I always thought it would make a good movie. When I saw what he had done with Frankweenie and Corpse Bride, it always struck me as a great idea for that form. I'm writing it at Warner's Bros. for him (as a stop-motion monster movie). As soon I'm done with that draft, I'll move into Unholy Night, probably in a matter of weeks."
He also reiterated his plans to write a script for a Beetlejuice sequel. "The first opportunity to tackle that will probably be later this year," he said.
In an interview with On The Box, actor Kiefer Sutherland (best known for starring in the action television series, 24) revealed that Warner Bros. approached him about the possibility of playing Robin in Tim Burton's Batman.
"I'd just finished 'Stand By Me' and 'Young Guns' about the time that Warner Bros. were making the first 'Batman' film with Michael Keaton, and I got a call which asked me if I would be interested in playing Robin," Sutherland explained. "I was like: 'As in Robin with tights? No!'"
He went on to say: "I didn't realize they were going to make the coolest movie ever. They didn't have a Robin in the end, but I was only 19, so my agent could have helped me out a bit on that one."
ShockTillYouDrop.comspoke with screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith, and asked him about whether Beetlejuice 2 will become a reality or not. "It's a reality in the sense that I met with Michael Keaton last week," Grahame-Smith told us. "We talked for a couple of hours and talked about big picture stuff. It's a priority for Warner Bros. It's a priority for Tim [Burton]. Right now, I am writing an animated movie for Tim based on an idea of mine. Then I adapt Unholy Night[based on the upcoming book]. The third I am hoping is Beetlejuice in terms of writing schedule."
And what was Keaton's excitement level like?
"Huge," the writer added, "he's been wanting to do it for 20 years and he'll talk to anybody about it who will listen. I really told him, I have a huge reverence for Tim and a huge reverence for that film in general. I don't think we should do it if we shit on the legacy. He agrees. So, right now, it remains to be seen, I have a couple of story ideas, but we're very early out."
So, it's possible that Grahame-Smith and Burton might be working on two more projects after their collaborations on Dark Shadows and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: an animated film (which is likely the stop-motion film, Night of the Living) and, if Warner Bros., Keaton, and Burton agree, possibly Beetlejuice 2. Stay tuned...
The Hollywood Reporter states that Warner Bros. and Tim Burton are interested in making a live-action adaptation of Pinocchio, starring Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr. would play Geppetto, the wood-carver who creates the marionette boy.
Bryan Fuller (creator of TV's Pushing Daisies) has written a treatment for the project, and Dan Jinks (American Beauty, Big Fish) is attached to produce.
However, neither Burton nor Downey Jr. have made deals with Warner Bros. yet, and both men have very busy schedules. Additionally, several other adaptations of Pinocchio are in development from other studios, making stiff competition for Warner Bros.' plans.
Entertainment Weekly spoke with David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith, the heads of KatzSmith productions, to learn more about their various upcoming plans and projects. Included in were two possible projects that may involve Tim Burton -- emphasis on "possible" and "may." The first was a possible sequel to Beetlejuice.
David Katzenberg: We’re not remaking Beetlejuice. People have been very angry about that.
Seth Grahame-Smith: When Warner Bros. came to us about it, we said the only way we’d do it if we got Tim [Burton’s] blessing and involvement, and we got that, and the star of the movie has to be Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, and it’s a true continuation 26 years later. Not just throwing him in as a cameo going, “Hey, it’s me. I endorse this movie.” We’re not there yet [with Keaton] because we don’t have a film to present to him.
The second film discussed was a possible stop-motion animated feature, Night of the Living. The idea is still only a concept, but the duo are considering pitching it to Tim Burton. The story concerns a community of monsters whose peaceful lives are turned around when they are invaded by humans.
Seth Grahame-Smith:Night of the Living is all of the topes of horror movies, but turned on their head from the monster’s point-of-view.
Again, however, Night of the Living does not yet have Burton attached to it.
Seth Grahame-Smith wrote the screenplays for two future Burton films, Dark Shadows and the Burton-produced Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. David Katzenberg is the son of Jeffrey Katzenberg, founder and head of DreamWorks Animation.
Deadline reports that a Beetlejuice sequel will likely come into existence at some point. KatzSmith Productions partners David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith (author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, as well as the screenwriter for the film versions of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Tim Burton's Dark Shadows) have just signed a two-year first-look feature producing deal at Warner Bros., and one of their first projects will be a sequel to the 1988 comedy. Grahame-Smith will likely write the script for the sequel. No word on a projected release date as of yet.
Other projects that may be included in the deal are We Three Kings (an adaptation of Grahame-Smith's next revisionist novel about what the Three Wise Men were really up to on Christmas Eve), Bryantology (about a man who invents a religion based around himself as a tax loophole) and, most interestingly, Night of the Living, a stop-motion animated comedy about a town of monsters who find themselves besieged by an invasion of living humans, which Tim Burton himself might be producing with KatzSmith.
The Wrap conducted an extensive interview with Tim Burton. The filmmaker discussed a myriad of subjects, including the origins of his artwork, why Dark Shadows will not be in 3D, and the failed Superman Lives project.
The video below features some of the interview, which was fully transcribed below:
Can you talk about the creature series, the untitled animation series, the number series; some of the more unfamiliar portions of the show?
A lot of these things came at a time when I was a student or working at Disney when I wasn’t really an animator, I just sort of had a lot of free time. There’s a period in my life when I wasn’t very social, and that’s how I spent my time, drawing and thinking of things, and it helped me. I think I was quite a depressed character at a certain point in life. This was kind of a catharsis for me, as a way to kind of explore and just get feelings out into the open nonverbally but just by doing things. Is that something you commonly do to relax, just sit down and draw?
Yeah, it is. It’s a bit kind of like a Zen thing for me. It was a way for me to communicate with myself in a weird way, in a way to kind of explore things that I couldn’t quite intellectualize or verbalize. I found drawing was a way of finding a certain reality for me and exploring things. So yeah, it’s still important even if I’m busy doing other things.
When you were at Cal Arts, you felt you weren’t a good "life-drawer," but you had a revelation while sitting and drawing over at the Farmer’s Market.
I’ll never forget, it was like a mind-expanding moment. I was sitting at Farmer’s Market and we were there on a class trip, sketching. I was frustrated, and I just said, “Fuck it. I can’t do this so I’m just going to draw.” And at that moment, it just changed for me. Not that my drawings got any better, but it just did something that I truly felt like my mind expanded. It was like taking some kind of drug and it just did something. I’ll never forget it. A character from “The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy,” Stain Boy is said to have come out of your experience trying to get “Superman” made at Warner Bros. How does he reflect that experience and can you talk about the struggles between Jon Peters, you and the studio?
Any filmmaker that’s had that happen will tell you, it’s kind of a scarring. You don’t forget it. It’s kind of the worst thing that can happen to you because, as an artist you get excited -- your whole energy is based on your passion for doing something. And then when you’re going on and on and on, and that’s sort of taken away, it’s quite traumatic because you put your passion into it. If you didn’t care, you’d just move on. It’s happened a couple of times. It seems to happen more and more with people. You know, it’s a lot of money; it’s a big responsibility. And movies are a gamble. There’s no such thing as a sure thing. I’m always amazed that certain studio executives don’t realize that. I guess there’s some things that are a bit more sure than others, but at the same time, you got to rely on the filmmaker. I’ve always been grateful when the studios understand, "Well, you’re the one making it, we should support you." I’ve always had this image of like, "Okay, you’re the star athlete,’ and right before the race, they beat the shit out of you then say, “Okay, now go win the race.” It doesn’t make any sense.
I know you’re in the first week of “Dark Shadows.” How do you usually ease the cast and crew into a production?
It’s been hard to kind of come here because I’m just starting, and it’s a weird tone and it’s a lot of actors and, you know, we’re not starting with the simple stuff; we're sort of getting right in there. You like to kind of sneak up on it a little bit, but this one we just kind of slammed right into it.
It’s based on a soap opera. Will it have that soapy quality?
Yes, I don’t know. I’m early into it because it’s a funny tone, and that’s part of what the vibe of the show is, and there’s something about it that we want to get. But when you look at it, it’s pretty bad. I’m hoping that it will be -- it’s early days, let’s put it -- I’m very intrigued by the tone. It’s a real ethereal tone we’re trying to go for and I don’t know yet.
Can you talk about your first meeting with Johnny Depp and how your relationship has evolved over the years? I understand you used to have to fight to get him in movies, and now people are begging you to put him in movies.
It’s true, I mean I just had an immediate connection with him. I didn’t know him, but he just felt right for “Edward Scissorhands.” We’re friends and colleagues, and we’ve always taken the tack of not working together just to work together. It’s got to be the right part, the right movie, all of that sort of thing. There’s a good sort of non-communicative communication, you know. Because especially back then I was not a good verbal communicator, and he’s a bit similar, but there’s more of a psychic kind of connection, I would say, that sort of has remained. I like actors, too, that like to change, become different things. Those are the kinds of actors I find fun and exhilarating to work with.
Will “Dark Shadows” be in 3D?
I have no plans for that. I loved doing "Alice" in 3D. “Frankeweenie,” gonna do that in 3D. There’s people like, "Everything’s gonna be in 3D," or "I hate 3D!" I think people should have a choice. I don’t think it should be forced on anybody. At the same time, it’s great, some of it. It’s like "Yes or no!? 3D! Yes or no?!" It’s like, well, you know, come on, whatever, some yes, some no.
Screen Rant announces that Warner Bros. intends to release Dark Shadows into theaters on May 11th, 2012.
Dark Shadows will be released just a few months before the feature-length, stop-motion version of Frankenweenie arrives in cinemas on October 5th, 2012.
This will not be the first time two Tim Burton-directed features (one live-action, the other stop-motion) are released in theaters in one year. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride, both from Warner Bros., came out in July and September of 2005, respectively.
NME Movie News reports that Chloe Moretz (best known as "Hit Girl" from Kick-Ass) is in advanced talks with Warner Bros. to join Dark Shadows. Moretz would likely play the role of Carolyn, the daughter of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, who will be played by Michelle Pfeiffer.
The Hollywood Reporter states that Tim Burton and Josh Brolin may possibly make an update of Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Warner Bros. is currently developing the project.
Brolin would not only star as the titular character, but also produce the film. Burton is reportedly intrigued and may even direct. But Burton has yet to read the script, which is being written by Kieran and Michele Mulroney (scribes of the forthcoming Sherlock Holmes sequel).
If Burton does decide to direct the film, then perhaps this feature-length adaptation will be somewhat in the spirit of the 1923 classic film starring Lon Chaney, Sr. Only time will tell:
Brolin is repped by CAA. The Mulroneys are repped by CAA and Management 360. Burton is repped by WME.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has decided to cut the theatrical run of Alice in Wonderland by a few weeks, the Hollywood Reporter states.
Normally, movies remain in cinemas for a 16-week run. But the theatrical run for Alice will be truncated to just under 13 weeks.
This experiment might become a growing trend for movies in general. Shortening the theatrical run of films might make home entertainment methods of viewing movies (Video On Demand, DVD, Blu-ray) more successful.
Another benefit would be freeing up the 3D and IMAX movie screens. Alice will be bumping Avatar off the map widely, and the 3D release of Warner Bros' Clash of the Titans (release date April 2nd) will be following Alice.
The abbreviated theatrical run will likely take effect in both the UK and the United States.
DVD Review has reported that Warner Bros. is planning on releasing Batman on a two-disc Blu-Ray set for its twentieth anniversary next year. No artwork is ready yet, but the release date is tentatively scheduled for March 31st, 2009.
The article stated that the release will come as two-disc Digibook version, containing a BD-25 for the movie and the second disc for the bonus materials. No other information, such as which extras will be featured, have been announced yet.
IESB.net has stated that director Peter Segal recently said that John August has written a screenplay adaptation for the TV series Dark Shadows -- and that Tim Burton is attached to direct it and Johnny Depp is (supposedly) to star in it.
Dark Shadows was a television series which ran from 1966 to 1971. It was a popular gothic soap opera, featuring vampires, werewolves, and other ghoulish creatures.
John August wrote the screenplays of Tim Burton's Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Corpse Bride.
Rumors of Burton and Depp teaming up for a big-screen version of Shadows came up on the Internet months ago. And this more official claim seems to encourage those beliefs. But just because Burton is attached to direct the film, it doesn't mean that he necessarily will. Months ago, Warner Bros. had Burton attached to helm an adaptation of the fantasy novel The Spook's Apprentice. But eventually, Burton moved to other projects (his upcoming Frankenweenie and Alice and Wonderland at Disney), and Kevin Lima is now currently signed on to direct Apprentice.
We'll have to wait and see what the future holds for Burton, Depp, and this planned Dark Shadows movie.
Talking about their initial meetings, he said: "It's an amazing thing that [we said]: 'We're gonna do an R rated musical with no professional singers, with lots of blood, about a serial killer and cannibalism', and they go 'Great!'. That was unheard of, I've never had that happen in my life before."
The filmmaker added that the fake blood used for the movie was orange, sticky, and curiously sweet. "It was our own special recipe, very sticky, very sweet and it burns your eyes."
The young Ed Sanders, who plays Toby in the film, also gave his opinion of the purposefully unrealistic gore in the film: "For a start, [it] was orange, and you could also see it actually pumping in through the pipes around the people they were killing's necks."
"There's a lot of blood-letting in the film but I like to keep mine inside me thank you very much.
"I'm not very good with the sight of my own blood. Nobody likes to be prodded or poked in any way, whether it's in the doctor's office or in jail."
Depp continued: "I always look away when I draw blood at the doctor's office. The blood we use is very theatrical. That's one of the reasons it still feels like a play to me. The realistic edge is off."
Burton admitted that he shared Depp's phobia, but didn't have a problem with their false blood concoction used during filming.
DreamWorks and Paramount have decided to give Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd a wide release in the United States for Christmas. The original wide release date was January 11th, 2008, assuming that the film didn't have the potential to be a commercial success. But some studio executives saw some clips of the upcoming movie, and realized the film has much broader appeal than they assumed before (despite it being a violent musical). Variety wrote, "The hope is that "Sweeney" will be the sort of signature role for Depp that Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise was." However, the article stated that, "at the same time, DreamWorks and Paramount aren't likely to go out with "Sweeney." The studios aren't planning on releasing the film in more than 1,500 theaters in the United States on opening weekend.
