It's been almost exactly a decade since The Addams Family last graced the silver screen, but now the macabre clan is getting ready for their comeback. MGM, according to Variety, is now in talks with producers Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun to make a brand new feature based on the classic television series and cartoons- only this time instead of live-action the film will instead be animated.
If the concept of an animated Addams Family movie sounds familiar it's because director Tim Burton had a very similar idea just a couple years ago. Back in 2010 it was confirmed that the filmmaker was working with Illumination Entertainment (the company behind Despicable Me and The Lorax) to develop a new take on the franchise with stop-motion - similar to what he did with last year's Frankenweenie. Sadly, earlier this year that project ended up being canned, which opened the doors for MGM to work on an animated version of their own. Pamela Pettler, whose credits include Burton's Corpse Bride, Gil Kenan's Monster House, and Shane Acker's 9 will be handling the screenplay
The Addams Family was created by Charles Addams as a cartoon series in the New Yorker back in the late 1930s before it was turned into a television series in 1964. That show was then turned into a feature film in 1991 - directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Raul Julia, Angelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd - and a sequel, Addams Family Values, came out in 1993:
I've always felt that Burton would be a perfect fit for The Addams Family material, so it's a shame that version of the project won't be moving forward. The question that remains, however, is what style of animation MGM will be using for their take. Variety's report doesn't specify, so is it possible that stop-motion is still on the table? Given the impressive quality we've seen in stop motion in the last few years, with titles like Coraline, ParaNorman and even Frankenweenie - I hope Burton's medium of choice will transfer over to the new version of the project.
Regardless of the style, it will be a few years before we actually get to see an animated The Addams Family movie, so let's do some casting speculation, shall we? Who do you think would be the best fits for the new Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Wednesday, Pugsley and the rest? Let us know what you're thinking in the comments section below!
