SUBMITTED BY pimpjoe_esb
November 15, 2007 — According to Variety, Tim Burton is pairing up with Disney to direct two 3-D pics, "Alice in Wonderland" and "Frankenweenie."
Two-movie deal with Walt Disney Studios begins with "Alice in Wonderland," which will combine performance-capture imagery, currently seen in "Beowulf," with live-action footage.
Script by Linda Woolverton ("The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast") is based on the Lewis Carroll classic.
Richard Zanuck, Joe Roth and Suzanne and Jennifer Todd will produce.
Burton, who is wrapping "Sweeney Todd" at Paramount and DreamWorks, will tackle "Alice in Wonderland" early next year, with production set to wrap by May.
After "Alice," Burton will helm and produce "Frankenweenie," based on his 1984 short film about a pet dog brought back to life by his loyal owner. Pic will be shot in stop-motion animation and shown in digital 3-D.
Movies are part of the Mouse House's efforts to ramp up its 3-D pic offerings, after starting with "Chicken Little" in 2005, followed by "Meet the Robinsons" and a re-release of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 3-D.
"When the script came to us from Joe Roth, there was one name on my list and it was Tim," said Oren Aviv, prexy of Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. "It felt like a project that needed someone with a unique vision and voice to really give it that special look and memorable characters that only Tim Burton can do."
Burton had previously produced "Nightmare Before Christmas" and helmed "Ed Wood" at Disney. |
