There’s been talk for quite a while about giving the classic Warner Bros cartoon character, Marvin The Martian, his own live action/CG movie outing, and it appears plans are moving forward, with the LA Times reporting that the producers have hired Alex Zamm to direct the film.
While up until now Zamm has been best known for churning out dodgy sequels (Inspector Gadget 2, Dr. Dolittle 4, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2), he certainly has plenty of experience mixing CG with live action and he’s also attached to direct a movie version of Hong Kong Phooey. However while Phooey is being handled by the same production company, Alcon Entertainment, it’s likely Marvin The Martian will come first.
TV writers Paul Kaplan and Mark Torgrove (Spin City) have been hired to handle the script, and the producers are now talking to actors about the movie. One possibility is that Mike Myers may play Marvin, which would probably be good for him, seeing as his voice work for Shrek ends next year when the final instalment in that series, Shrek Forever After, is released. As his recent live action work has flopped, he could probably do with another gig where he gets paid for sitting behind a microphone.
While Warner has tried numerous times to bring its Looney Tunes characters to the big screen in the likes of Space Jam and Back In Action, it’s never quite worked. However there’s plenty of possibilities to create a great movie around Marvin The Martian, with his constant harebrained attempts to destroy the Earht.. He always enlivened the Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons he was in, and certainly made a more entertaining villain than the ever-annoying Elmer Fudd.
The plan is to have the film in cinemas for Christmas 2011.