The adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, as written about in Mark Twain's novels based on the teenage characters, have been adapted to the screen countless times, but probably never in a way as odd and possibly crazy as this one. According to THR, Rise of the Planet of the Apes producer Peter Chernin is planning to re-introduce the characters as adults, in a story with "supernatural elements," in the movie Huck and Tom, existing now only as spec script by Andrew Burg. Chernin will be producing along with Dylan Clark and Matt Lopez, but as the guy behind a very recent dicey-seeming reboot of a popular franchise, Chernin might be the guy we should count on to keep this form going off the rails.
Apparently the project is being described as a remaining "in the vein of" Snow White and the Huntsman," though the vibe I'm getting here is far more Sherlock Holmes. We've already seen the Sherlock Holmes effect translate into the revival of the Arthur and Lancelot movie at Warner Bros., and it's hard to think of a reason to age up Tom and Huck and add in supernatural elements unless you were trying to capture that Sherlock Holmes vibe. I'm not here to say it won't work, but it does seems like an awfully random departure, and hard to imagine how Sawyer and Finn could maintain their essential characteristics when grown up. They're the ultimate impulsive, troublemaking teenagers; how will that translate to them being adults?
I guess that's the question Chernin wants to answer, and I'll admit, I'm curious. Also, skeptical, of course, but curiosity is enough to get me keeping an eye on this for the time being.
