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Shawn Levy Confirmed to Direct a New Adaptation of 'Frankenstein'

by Ethan Anderton
September 1, 2011
Source: Variety

Towards the end of last month there were rumblings that the James Cameron produced 3D adaptation of Fantastic Voyage from director Shawn Levy might have hit a bit of a snag with the studio. While Levy wanted a big name attached to the project, the studio didn't think it was necessarily mandatory, and that impasse has led to Levy taking on another project which also happens to be at Fox. Now Variety reports Levy is now officially signed on to direct a new adaptation of Frankenstein described as a sci-fi take on the traditional Mary Shelley story, focusing on themes of friendship and redemption.

While I was hoping this would be a darker, grittier piece of work from Levy who has shown great strides with Real Steel and Date Night veering away from bland and goofy family fare like Cheaper by the Dozen, the themes of friendship and redemption make this seem less enticing. Of course, if this has the heart of something like The Iron Giant or E.T. then I might be back on board. Levy did beat out names like Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum) and David (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), but with writer Max Landis (son of John Landis) working on the script, it's hard to tell just how family friendly this project will be.

But this development could put the project at the forefront of a whole slew of Frankenstein projects that are already in development. Those include Wake the Dead with Haley Joel Osment, Universal's gestating update with Guillermo del Toro involved, Lakeshore Entertainment's adaptation of I, Frankenstein, Summit Entertainment updates of This Dark Endeavor, Ghost House Pictures adaptation of The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein and another contemporary update of the classic story from Columbia Pictures. So yeah, getting out in front of the pack is going to be big deal in this case.

Filed under Development, Movie News

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