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John August: Not Writing Frankenweenie, But Another Tim Burton Live-Action

by Alex Billington
November 28, 2007
Source: johnaugust.com

With Sweeney Todd arriving in theaters in under a month, Tim Burton-fever is spreading again and all the Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Big Fish fans are creeping out and into the public. With that, screenwriter John August (Charlie's Angels, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Big Fish) writes an update on his personal blog about two of Tim Burton's upcoming features, one of which he isn't writing, and one of which he is writing. I'll give you a hint: Burton's Frankenweenie is one of them.

Contrary to what IMDb claims, John August is not writing Burton's Frankenweenie, the stop-animation remake of one of Burton's original shorts. However, it doesn't mean he might have been attached once. Here's what he had to say:

I had a meeting with Disney Animation about a year ago, in which they pitched the idea of doing a feature version of Tim's Frankenweenie short film. They even had production art for it. Then, separately, I had a conversation with Tim about doing another stop-motion animation project like Corpse Bride.

But they're not the same thing. And as far as I know, I won't be working on either one. (That said, I didn't think I was working on Corpse Bride until I was halfway on a plane to London, so never say never.)

However, as promised, August did spice things up and tease just a bit. He says he WILL be writing a live action Tim Burton project as soon as the writers strike ends. What exactly is it? What is Tim Burton's next live action movie? "I'd love to tell you what it is. But I can't." Shucks!

With Sweeney Todd arriving in theaters on December 21st and at least two more projects in the works, Burton is a pretty busy guy. Disney already announced that Burton is working on a remake of Alice in Wonderland that will be in 3D and feature part motion-capture and part live action; and also that Burton will eventually make a full feature adaptation of the stop-motion film Frankenweenie. I'm even wondering if Burton can squeeze a live action movie into that schedule with two Disney films anyway.

John August promises that this other project that he's writing for Burton isn't announced yet, so it can't be Alice in Wonderland. I think I don't speak alone here when I ask: what the heck is it?!

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