Tim Burton News

[goldenboy]

Tim Burton to direct Frankenweenie Stop-Motion Animated Feature Film?

Posted on Monday, October 1st, 2007 at 12:22 am by: Peter Sciretta

It all started when Dick Cook, the Chairman of Walt Disney Pictures, mentioned during a Question and Answer session at North Carolina School of the Arts that Disney would be announcing a new stop-motion animated film in the next couple months. Cook slyly revealed that project would be helmed by “the creative mastermind behind the majority of stop-motion pictures in the last decade.” That leaves only two possibilities, Tim Burton or Aardman Animations. But the latter is more of a collective group of creative masterminds that were responsible for the Wallace & Gromit films and Chicken Run, where the former is a one man namebrand. The consensus is that Cook was talking about Burton, who is currently in post production on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

AinitCool later received an anonymous e-mail tip claiming that Burton will in fact be making a stop motion animated feature length remake of his infamous short Frankenweenie. Burton made the short black and white film in 1984. It is rumored that Disney decided to shelve the project because the content was too “questionable” for children. However, after the mainstream success of such Burton films as Beetlejuice, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, and Batman, the film was given a home video release on the Nightmare Before Christmas DVD.

Frankenweenie is a parody of the 1931 Frankenstein film. When young Victor’s pet dog Sparky is hit by a car, Victor decides to bring him back to life the only way he knows how. But when the bolt-necked “monster” wreaks havoc and terror in the hearts of Victor’s neighbors, he has to convince them and his parents, that despite his appearance, Sparky’s still the good loyal friend he’s always been. The film starred Shelley Duvall, Daniel Stern, Barret Oliver, Sofia Coppola and Jason Hervey.

I’m a huge fan of Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, and would love to see him design a new stop animated film. Burton for me has never been a great director, but instead a great artist, who has a fantastic sense of production design. The stop animated world is a perfect fit for his genius. Check out a slideshow presentation featuring a look at the original 29-minute Frankenweenie short film below via YouTube.

Note: This project has not been confirmed, and until such time should be considered a rumor.
Tim Burton to direct Frankenweenie Stop-Motion Animated Feature Film? | /Film (http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/10/01/tim-burton-to-direct-frankenweenie-stop-motion-animated-feature-film/)

[goldenboy]

And what about Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street? Though some folks believe its greatness is a foregone conclusion based on the Stephen Sondheim pedigree (and, to a lesser extent, Johnny Depp in the lead role), does anyone really know what to expect from a Tim Burton musical? Though music has generally been an integral part of his best films (Ed Wood notwithstanding), helming a musical requires a different skill set altogether - one that he hasn't evinced yet in his twenty-one year career as a feature filmmaker.

This is why it's a relief to hear Sondheim tell Fox411 gossip Roger Friedman that the film is not only "great", but brief. What's that? Brief is good? When it comes to transferring Broadway musicals to film, yes... yes, it is.

Per Sondheim: “It’s not the Broadway show. It’s only an hour and 45 minutes. A lot of the score has been cut. They’ve made it its own thing. You have to go in knowing that. But what they’ve done is great.”

I was worried that Burton might compensate for his musical inexperience by erring on the side of slavishness, but it sounds like he's been ruthless in cutting somewhere between forty to fifty minutes out of the stage show (or maybe that credit is due screenwriter John Logan). While this obviously means a number or two will go bye-bye, I imagine the reduced runtime is mostly a function of paring down the operetta (which won't be that big of a challenge for mainstream moviegoers, as the immensely popular Les Misérables is an all-warbling affair, too).
CHUD.com - Cinematic Happenings Under Development (http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=news&id=11953)

[goldenboy]

The first trailer for Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s next movie Sweeney Todd is due to hit theaters for the first time this weekend attached to prints of The Heartbreak Kid. No word on when it will be online, but I saw it tonight at a Heartbreak Kid press screening. It’s good. Weird, but good.

When you’re talking Sweeney Todd you expect weird, after all this is a movie about a barber who murders his customers and has them baked into pies while singing about it. Musicals are by definition weird, and Sweeney Todd is weirder than most. And the trailer is good, really good. Or it is until Johnny Depp gets singing. Then it gets even weirder than you’d expect. It’s not that his voice is bad, it’s just that watching Johnny Depp belting out a tune in Tim Burtin’s typically dark, dank, world simply feels incredibly wrong.

The trailer, which runs a bit more than two minutes, seems to be trying to de-emphasize the musical aspect of the film. That may be why Depp’s singing scene seems odd, since so little of the trailer is devoted to advertising the film as a musical. Or it could be that getting used to Depp doing the singing thing is simply going to take some getting used to. Either way, you’re in for a treat this weekend when the first trailer for Sweeney Todd debuts.
Sweeney Todd Trailer Seen (http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Sweeney-Todd-Trailer-Seen-6545.html)

[goldenboy]

http://z.about.com/d/movies/1/0/3/n/N/nightmareposter.jpg

'NIGHTMARE': It's back, this time in 3-D

Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 3-D Opens Friday

'Twas not too long ago (in 1993, to be exact) that Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, first found himself in a rut that left him tired of Halloween Town's yearly celebration.

In search of something to fill his void, he knocked on Christmas' door and was wisked away to a town filled with snow, lights, music and happiness. Taken by all of Christmas Town's holiday spirit, Jack decided that there was only one thing to do: rally the Halloween Town troops and take over Christmas.

Now, 14 years later, he's doing it all over again -- only this time in three scary dimensions. Relive this Tim Burton stop motion animation masterpiece in life-like 3-D this Halloween season.
Street (http://www.signonsandiego.com/entertainment/street/2007/10/nightmare_its_back_this_time_i_1.html)

[goldenboy]

Burton back at Dis in 2-pic deal

By Borys Kit
Nov 16, 2007

Tim Burton is returning home to Disney.

Burton has signed a two-picture deal with the company that will see him direct and produce 3-D movies of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and a remake of Burton's own "Frankenweenie."

The "Alice" adaptation will be a combination of live-action and performance capture and will be based on a script by Linda Woolverton ("The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast"). It will be produced by longtime Burton collaborator Richard Zanuck and former Disney chairman Joe Roth with Jennifer and Suzanne Todd.

Filming will begin in early 2008 with a production completion date in May 08. Disney creative executive Jason Reed will oversee the project.

Burton will then segue to produce and direct a full-length motion picture version of his cult favorite 1984 film short, "Frankenweenie," about a pet dog who is brought back to life by his loyal owner in a very unusual way. The film will be shot in stop-motion animation

Both movies will be presented in Disney Digital 3-D.

"They have 'instant classic' written all over them and will certainly entertain audiences worldwide for years to come," Disney chairman Dick Cook said. "Tim is one of the most dynamic and creative storytellers of our time, and having him back at Disney is just great."

Walt Disney Studios motion picture production president Oren Aviv plans to put the entire company behind "Alice."

Burton, repped by WMA, is putting the finishing touches on the holiday motion picture "Sweeney Todd," starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.
Burton back at Dis in 2-pic deal (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3id3a854696cdb5c002d118f382fbae715)

[prydain]

I didn't like Frankenweenie.

[DarklyDreamingDrusilla]

I Love Tim Burton! (The End) sorry just had to put that out there.

[goldenboy]

IESB Exclusive: Director and Writer Named for Depp's DARK SHADOWS!
Written by Robert Sanchez
Monday, 02 June 2008

DARK SHADOWS is in development over at Johnny Depp's Infinitum-Nihil and Graham King's GK Films along with Warner Bros. It is a feature based on the '60s daytime supernatural soap opera.

While no director, writer or cast has yet been announced, the film is based on over 1,225 episodes of the television series dating from 1966 to 1971. Dark Shadows was a highly atmospheric, spooky soap that featured gothic horror staples like vampires, monsters, witches, werewolves, ghosts and zombies.

This weekend, the IESB exclusively learned the names of the people set to bring this project to life.

While interviewing GET SMART director Peter Segal this past weekend in Beverly Hills, he spoke briefly about writer John August. Segal says August, who is writing BILLY BATSON AND THE LEGEND OF SHAZAM for Segal over at WB, is jumping back and forth between Tim Burton's DARK SHADOWS and his SHAZAM script trying to work on both films at the same time due to a back log of work after the writers' strike earlier this year.

So, while we can't confirm the rumors of Depp starring as Barnabus Collins in DARK SHADOWS, the IESB has confirmed that TIM BURTON is attached to direct and JOHN AUGUST has been brought in to write the adaptation for the film.
IESB.net - Movie News, Reviews, Interviews and More! - IESB Exclusive: Director and Writer Named for Depp's DARK SHADOWS! (http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4997&Itemid=99)

[goldenboy]

Tim Burton talks about Johnny Depp, 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'The Dark Knight'

02:12 PM PT, Oct 15 2008

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I got Tim Burton on the phone the other day while he was on the set of "Alice in Wonderland" and I had to admit right off the bat that I was surprised that, with the filming just underway, he was taking the time to chat. "Yeah, well, me too," he said in his droll deadpan, and I wasn't sure whether to laugh or apologize and hang up. Then he let me off the hook. "Actually," he said in a sunnier voice, "we're just about to get going so we'll see how things go. Good, I hope."


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I'm guessing things will go quite well for the 50-year-old filmmaker, who seems like the ideal auteur to bring Lewis Carroll's surreal 1865 classic "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" to the screen for a 21st century audience.

Young Aussie Mia Wasikowska (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1985859/) will be Burton's Alice, while Johnny Depp is the inspired choice to play the Mad Hatter.

I told Burton that it seems as if Depp (who has other upcoming roles as an Old West hero, a pirate and a vampire) approaches his acting choices the same way a gleeful kid rummages through a trunk of dress-up clothes. The filmmaker let out a loud laugh. "It's true. Yeah we have a big dress-up clothes trunk here. We take it with us wherever we go."


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More on a Depp and "Alice" in a moment, but first: This Saturday night Burton will be at the Scream 2008 Awards (http://www.spike.com/event/scream) at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, an event that in just its third year has become a signature event in sci-fi, comics, fantasy and, yes, horror, which was is its original mandate but is now just part of its genre cocktail. Burton is getting something called the Immortal Award and the Scream people boldly say that Burton has "contributed more to the genres of fantasy, sci-fi and horror than any other filmmaker of his generation," and there's certainly an argument to made that they are completely right. "Batman," "Beetlejuice," "Edward Scissorhands," "Ed Wood," "The Nightmare Before Christmas"...the list just goes on and on. Burton's film visuals -- a sort of cemetery cabaret ethos -- have put him on an short list (Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Woody Allen spring to mind) of filmmakers who have such distinctive on-screen traits that they become evocative brand names to even casual filmgoers.

Burton will be making quite the dramatic entrance on Saturday (which you can see yourself when the show airs on Spike TV on Oct. 21) but he has a reputation as a fairly shy fellow. I asked him if he was looking forward to the trophy night or dreading it.

"I haven't been to the event but I've seen a bit on TV and it looks quite fun, you know, which in itself is different from most of these kind of shows. It looks like a nice big Halloween party, which is always good. It seems like all the type of people that nobody liked in school all getting together for a nice big party. A prom for the kids that didn't go to prom."


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I told Burton that, for the night, the venue should change its sign to read 'The Geek Theatre' and he laughed again. "That's very good! I like that. I can't use, that, I can't take credit for that." He said he had a better way to sum up the geek and Goth crowd that will attend: "We're all the people on the yearbook pages devoted to "the most likely to disappear before the semester ends and no one will notice..."

Burton was making "Batman" films when the cape genre was still viewed as a campy ghetto by serious Hollywood creators, so it must be interesting for him to watch the fringe entertainment move so squarely to the center of mainstream film and to finally do so with respectable reviews. "It is a different time now, yes. It's strange to me. At the time back in school when everybody tortured you, it didn't seem quite the same. It wasn't fashionable then. It didn't seem viable and vibrant and accepted at the time. But sometimes those things take a while."

With "Alice in Wonderland," the defining pop-culture version of the story for modern American audiences is the 1951 Disney animated adaptation with its little blond Alice in her blue dress with white pinafore. That film was met with acidic reviews by the literary world (especially in England) for its bland and blunted vision of the Carroll classic. Burton is not a fan of the film, either, and, as with "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," it appears his mission is to reclaim a children's classic, resharpen its edges and remind everyone that sapping the weirdness out of a tale often renders it flat and forgettable.


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"It's a funny project. The story is obviously a classic with iconic images and ideas and thoughts. But with all the movie versions, well, I've just never seen one that really had any impact to me. It's always just a series of weird events. Every character is strange and she's just kind of wandering through all of the encounters as just a sort of observer. The goal is to try to make it an engaging movie where you get some of the psychology and kind of bring a freshness but also keep the classic nature of 'Alice.' And, you know, getting to do it in 3-D fits the material quite well. So I'm excited about making it a new version but also have the elements that people expect when they think of the material."

I told Burton he's right, the Disney movie is a meandering tour of a funhouse without any gripping story arc. "Yeah, I know, it's just, 'Oh, this character's weird' and 'Oh, that character's weird.' I can't really recall a version where I felt really engaged by it. So that's the goal, just to try to give it a gravity that most film versions haven't had."

How easy was it to persuade Depp to conjure up yet another enigmatic oddball? "He loves doing that. That's never a problem. He doesn't like to be the same way twice. That's good, it always keeps it fresh and all. And he likes the material we have here and he gets it. It's nice to have people involved that are fans of the material and all."

Is there a plan yet on "Dark Shadows," based on the vampire soap opera, also set to star Depp? "Oh I don't know. Take one at time, you know? It's something I'm interested in of course. Definitely. But I'm going to start shooting this one first!"


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I asked Burton if it's more than a coincidence that over the past decade his live-action films have often revisited and reimagined existing works, be they literature ("Charlie," "Alice," "Sleepy Hollow," "Big Fish"), musicals ("Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"), movies ("Planet of the Apes") or television shows ("Dark Shadows").

"Hmm. That's interesting. I don't know. I think we're all a product of our upbringing, you know, in a sense. I wasn't a very literary person. I loved movies. What you grow up with is what influences you. Whether you were a reader and there's a lot of books that you sort of want to translate to film or if it's other things that took in. I was definitely of a generation where the things I grew up watching still have impact on me. There's something about exercising that aspect of your personality or working with something that's meant a lot to you. It's just another way of processing ideas and all. So it's not really a conscious decision. I don't open up old 'TV Guides' and sit there and think, 'Hmmmm, 'Sanford & Son', that's the the movie I want to do. I watched that when I was a child...' "


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Burton said he is ramping up his bravery for the Saturday night event with its hot spotlight and crowd. "I don't do it very often so it's not something I'm very used to. I'm not comfortable in big public situations, but at the same time it's a very nice thing. It's a very nice thing to do. But while it is nice, it's not the thing you think about a lot. For me, it's the people that come up to you on the streets, the people that say something to you in person, something nice and thoughtful, that's so much more interesting than connecting with a sort of staged event. you know? The types of people you grew up with, the people that enjoy certain kinds of movies, there's a connection with people like that. I certainly feel that. I mean, when someone comes up to me on the street and they have one of my drawings as a tattoo on their body, a real tattoo... I mean, that's pretty amazing. That's happened to me a few times."

Then there was a question I had to ask: What did Burton think of "The Dark Knight"? After a bit of fumbling around for words, Burton said: "I haven't seen it yet. I'm just, you know, busy. I do want to see it. I've heard it's very good. And I'm sure it is very good. Mostly everybody that I know that has seen it has said that it's very good and I take their word for it."

I thought it would be good to change the subject. There was a recent anniversary DVD of "Beetlejuice," so I asked Burton how he frames that film in his mind when he looks back on it as both a career and creative moment.

"With that movie, I just remember that back then it was the second film I did and I felt very strange making it because everyone was thinking, 'This movie really has no story and it doesn't move along like a Hollywood movie.' It just felt very funny and strange having the opportunity to make that. i just remember that feeling every day: 'Wow, they're letting me make this, which is really weird.' And it continues to this day, that dynamic. It's still weird."

Seemed like a good place to stop. I thanked Burton for his time and mentioned that I'm hoping to visit the "Alice" set soon. "That's great, I'll see you out here! I'll be on the green screen. Just look for a load of green. Take care."

-- Geoff Boucher
Tim Burton talks about Johnny Depp, 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'The Dark Knight' | Hero Complex | Los Angeles Times (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/10/tim-burton-talk.html)