Frankenstein (Fox)
Dr. Frankenstein has created a monster.
‘Lucky Number Slevin’ Director Brings ‘Frankenstein’ Back To Life!
Turns out that $80 million budget was a sticking point after all! Shawn Levy’s Frankenstein no longer has the whole “Shawn Levy” component to contend with. Fox decided (sensibly) that their tale penned by Chronicle‘s Max Landis, would be better served going a more economic route. Enter new director Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin).
Per Variety, “Levy wanted a big-budget version of the classic monster tale, according to sources close to the project, while Fox wants to keep costs on the project down.”
Earlier this year, the now departed Levy explained how they’re going to create the monster, while also teasing multiple Franks, “In the case of ‘Frankenstein,’ my whole approach is based on a mo-cap SimulCam playback so that it’s not a dude with scars on his face. It’s not just kind of latex and a costume; it would be a motion-capture performance of the monster—I can give away maybe not too much by saying there’s more than one in our version—and then I would go to Europe, shoot the movie, do scenes with the real actors and I would be able to see the motion-captured monster in real time due to SimulCam, so yes that is our technological VFX paradigm for Frankenstein.”
No word on if those Levy plans have changed. A smaller budget would indicate that they might. If so, I imagine Landis (or whomever) is doing a rewrite as we speak.
What If John Hughes Penned ‘Mad Max’ & ‘Zombieland’? You’d Have ‘Monster Problems’
Paramount is in negotiations to pick up Monster Problems, a spec script by Brian Duffield for Shawn Levy and his 21 Laps banner to produce.
Details are being kept under lock and key but the project has been described as a post-apocalyptic road movie in the vein of Mad Max and Zombieland with a John Hughes-esque love story at its center.
Billy Rosenberg and Dan Cohen will oversee the project at 21 Laps. Sources peg the deal as in the low-against-mid six figures.
Duffield is behind the Black List script “Jane Got a Gun” that has attracted Natalie Portman as star and producer and Lynne Ramsey directing. His romantic comedy “Your Bridemaid’s a Bitch,” set up at Skydance, recently saw Eli Craig board as director.
Levy, the director of Night at the Museum and Date Night, is a eyeing a July start for his next movie, the Fox comedy The Internship, which will reteam Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.
Shawn Levy Teases Multiple ‘Frankenstein’ Monsters!
Even though other publications reported the project as in turnaround, Bloody Disgusting updated the story that Twentieth Century Fox was still developing Shawn Levy’s Frankenstein tale penned by Chronicle‘s Max Landis.
In an interview with Collider, Levy explains how they’re going to create the monster, while also teasing multiple Franks!
“In the case of ‘Frankenstein,’ my whole approach is based on a mo-cap SimulCam playback so that it’s not a dude with scars on his face. It’s not just kind of latex and a costume; it would be a motion-capture performance of the monster—I can give away maybe not too much by saying there’s more than one in our version—and then I would go to Europe, shoot the movie, do scenes with the real actors and I would be able to see the motion-captured monster in real time due to SimulCam, so yes that is our technological VFX paradigm for Frankenstein.”
I’d love to see a new Frankenstein in theaters, I just can’t see how you tell that story again in a compelling way. I guess that’s why I’m not a screenwriter… I’ll leave that to the professionals and their $80 million budget. READ MORE
UPDATED: Fox Maybe Hasn’t Rejected $80 Million ‘Frankenstein’ Project
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EDIT (5:13 PST)* We have received word from a source close to the production that Vulture’s story is incorrect. According to the source the production is not in turnaround and is indeed still in development.
Since last August 20th Century Fox has been developing a new Frankenstein story with Shawn Levy attached to direct.
Based on a script by Chronicle writer Max Landis, the writer’s revisionist Frankenstein has been described as a sci-fi take on the traditional Mary Shelley story, focusing on themes of friendship and redemption.
Personally, I find any version of the “Frankenstein” story impossibly difficult to tell. I am quite excited to see a studio crack the code and blow our minds with a new version of the story about an assembled monster that is betrayed by man.
Unfortunately, Fox won’t be moving forward on their version, according to Vulture. “Fox recently balked at making Levy’s planned remake of “Frankenstein” at an $80 million budget,” says the NY Magazine. Yeah, I’d balk too at any horror project being budgeted above $12 million. Your thoughts? READ MORE
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