Tim Burton to direct Willy Wonka remake for WB (1 Viewer)

[Ricky Hustle]

...Burton is a great visualist...but nothing more...a hack...

Nah, George Lucas is the hack. The guy gets 70 million to make films and it all goes to CGI. He can't even direct his actors to make their roles believable. And he certainly cant write a script that impresses anyone older than 16 years of age. Lucas is milking a dead cow. Sorry about the tangent, but calling Tim Burton a hack riled me up.

Any man who can dream up the characters of A Nightmare Before Christmas, write the story, and bring the final product to the screen is no hack. Who cares if Selick directed the film, that was just the final piece to the puzzle. It is a brilliant, original film.

Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands are excellent films also where at the very least Burton dared to do things differently.

It is a waste of time to judge this project until it hits the big screen. Sure it may be a dud, it also might be wonderful. I'm curious about it.

 

[Eric Peterson]

I'm actually looking forward to this quite a bit. I love Roald Dahl, but haven't read "Chocolate Factory" since I was very young. I just ordered a set of that along with "Great Glass Elevator" from Amazon and will be reading them soon.

I'm sure Burton will interpret things much more like the book and I I cringe in excitement as I think about the visuals that he will come up with.

And as for "Burton the Hack", are you !@#^&*( Nuts? He may not be one of the great directors, but he is certainly one of the very top directors of the last 20 years and certainly near the top of popular directors from the last 20 years. I wouldn't hesitate to place him above Spielberg, Lucas, Cameron, Scott, & many others who keep making the same movies over and over.

That said, I can't wait!!

 

[Quentin]

I will just reiterate that Burton is FAR from a "hack". The man has shown his talents time and time again.

I'll also add that I've seen some dailies on "Big Fish". This film is going to be very good...another notch for Burton, and perhaps some award recognition.

 

[Mike Graham]

Frankly I think Burton is brilliant - but wish we could've at least gotten two or three pictures that didn't have scripts filmed beforehand (or books already adapted for the screen).

 

[Patrick McCart]

...PeeWee...etc...are all based on previous source material

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure used a CHARACTER from previous stuff, but the script was original.

A lot of great directors based their films on previous source materials, anyways. You know...hacks like Alfred Hitchcock...Martin Scorsese....Victor Fleming....David Lean...Frank Capra... the list goes on...

 

[Marvin Richardson]

Perhaps if Joshua didn't have a picture of Lucas's Episode II in his signature while calling Burton a hack there wouldn't be so much flack? I mean seriously.

A lot of great directors based their films on previous source materials, anyways. You know...hacks like Alfred Hitchcock...Martin Scorsese....Victor Fleming....David Lean...Frank Capra... the list goes on...

Ouch. Good one.

 

[Ricky Hustle]

Perhaps if Joshua didn't have a picture of Lucas's Episode II in his signature while calling Burton a hack there wouldn't be so much flack? I mean seriously.

The above quote made me laugh. Just had to say that. I mean seriously.

 

[Sean*O]

I have just never seen Burton do anything that wasn't DARK. All of the design in his movies is so dreary.

I just don't see his visual style working with anything like Wonka.

Burton IS a visualist first and foremost, and this seems to be where he focuses the majority of his energy.

His style is always dark dark dark.. and if he would just realize this as his strength he would make better career choices.

Personally, I think his style is more suited to a movie like "The Crow". Sleepy Hollow was a great film for him to direct.. as was Batman. Those were movies where his visual style worked well with the material.

He is great at doing the darker stuff.

And perhaps he should collaberate with someone like Trent Reznor instead of Danny Elfman, for music that would be better suited to his visual style.

Reznor and Burton are practically twins anyway.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

From today's Variety:

 

[Brian Kidd]

Depp and Burton make a wonderful combination. ED WOOD, SLEEPY HOLLOW, and EDWARD SCISSORHANDS are some of my favorite Burton films.

 

[Aryn Leroux]

This Would be their 4th teaming. They have previously worked together on Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow. Usually Depp/Burton = Good Movie i hope this will be no different.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I have just never seen Burton do anything that wasn't DARK. All of the design in his movies is so dreary.

Have you READ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Dark is the watchword, like with most Dahl books

 

[paul_v]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...=4&u=/eo/12351

It could soon be Oompa Loompa time for Johnny Depp.


Currently sailing the seas as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl's Captain Jack Sparrow, the thespian may be foregoing the rum for some everlasting gobstoppers--he's the frontrunner to play Willy Wonka in director Tim Burton's update of Roald Dahl's classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, sources confirmed Wednesday.


Earlier reports initially had Warner Bros. and the helmer eyeing Christopher Walken and Michael Keaton (news) as everyone's favorite Candy Man.


But Burton and Warners sweetened on Depp following the blockbuster success of Pirates of the Caribbean, according to Daily Variety. That swashbuckling adventure has grossed over $200 million worldwide and already has a sequel in the works.


If Burton punches Depp's golden ticket, it would mark the versatile actor's fourth starring role for the director: Depp cut up the screen as the title character in 1990's Edward Scissorhands, played the legendary cross-dressing, angora-obsessed B-moviemaker in 1994's Ed Wood (news) and kept his head as Ichibod Crane in 1999's Sleepy Hollow.


Depp also has bona fides as a candy lover, having showed off his sweet tooth in the 2000 Miramax confection, Chocolat.


Warners has long wanted to redo the twisted kiddie story, but Dahl was never a big fan of the 1971 adaptation, titled Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and starring Gene Wilder (news), which the author thought was half-baked (even though it's now considered a cult classic). Since his death, Dahl's estate has been hesitant to greenlight another movie version.


Enter Burton, whose résumé includes such darkly stylish morsels as Batman and The Nightmare Before Christmas, as well as manic comic gems like Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice, all of which share Dahl's off-kilter sensibilities. Burton also produced the 1996 animated version of Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. With Burton on board, the family signed off on the remake.


Warners believes a new Chocolate Factory will not only generate big business at the box office but also lead to a windfall in the ancillary department, including DVD and game sales, merchandising and maybe even a stage musical à la Disney's The Lion King.


Wonka is being produced by Brad Grey, Michael Siegel (who reps the Dahl estate) and Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt (news) and Jennifer Aniston (news). The studio has tapped scribe Pamela Pettler to write the latest version.


If all goes well, expect to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Oompa Loompa its way into theaters some time in 2005.

 

[DavidAC]

Cool, I hope it happens, I think Depp would be perfect.

 

[Dennis Castro]

They should leave well enough alone. Enough with the sequels and remakes let's make real original movie. If it must be done Depp is the only one that I can see doing justice to the part. Burton seems to suck the life out of his remakes and I will want to hate this film. If Depp does get the part it will make it very hard for me to hate for I am a great admirer of his work.

 

[Brenton]

The only way this new version will be justified is if it turns up to adhere closely to the book.

I've never read the book, but it's the principal that matters.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Yeah, I don't see this film as being a threat to the 70's classic anyway. Lets hope they let Burton go all out, because his vision of Wonka's factory, and Wonka himself, should be one of the most liberating projects of his life. Let's hope it's not stale like POTA was.

 

[Richard Kim]

The only way this new version will be justified is if it turns up to adhere closely to the book.

I've never read the book, but it's the principal that matters.

Well, the 70's film is pretty faithful to the book. There weren't any musical numbers in the book, though.

 

[Brenton]

Then how come Roald Dahl didn't like it?

 

[Scott Weinberg]

More discussion on this topic here.