Every studio loves Tim Burton and Jonah Hex doesn’t seem to have put Warner Bros off Josh Brolin, as the duo are teaming with the studio to develop a new movie based on the classic Victor Hugo novel, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame.
THR has the news, as says that Burton and Brolin are bringing on-board scribes Kieran and Michele Mulroney, who wrote the upcoming Sherlock Holmes sequel. So that definitely suggests this will fit in with the wave of flick based on classic characters that try to make it more action-packed and modern, with Warner obviously hoping to ape their Sherlock success.
It is apparently very early days though, with ideas about only just now coming together about the direction the film should take. Indeed, while Burton is interested and will help develop the movie – probably because the gothic tale would seem tailor-made for him, with its possibilities for elaborate production design and the dark, sexual undercurrent of the story – he’ll only officially sign on once he sees the script. Brolin meanwhile is down to both star and produce.
In other words, don’t expect it anytime soon, and if it does go ahead, there’s no guarantee it’ll be Burton directing.
While Hunchback has been adapted numerous times over the years, it does feel like we’re overdue a really good version of the tale of the deformed Quasimodo and his tragic love for the beautiful gypsy girl Esmerelda. Disney 1990s animated version was okay, but personally I reckon a live-action, Tim Burton directed adaptation sounds like a great idea.