• Roger Deakins, Alexandre Desplat and Colleen Atwood added to Hollywood film fest honorees. [Variety]
• Matt Damon talks “Bourne 4.” [Empire]
• Viggo Mortensen planning an early retirement after the release of “The Road?” [Cinema Blend]
Tag: Shane Acker
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9/9 Web Round-up
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COMIC-CON: Acker, Bekmambetov and Burton showcase ‘9’
Focus Features rolled out an extended clip of Shane Acker’s “9” a few moments ago to adulating fans who seemed more eager to ask producer Tim Burton a slew of peripheral questions and offer the usual “you’re an inspiration” sentiments to the macabre-obsessed director. So it goes at Comic-Con.But on the issue at hand, Burton offered that he connected to Acker’s original short film (which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005) immediately.
“You see a lot of personal films, but you don’t see a lot of personal films that are animated,” he said in the post-screening panel discussion. “I’ve been through it before, endless conversations with studios, ‘Why can’t Jack Skellington have eyes?’ I thought I could at least help fight those battles so he could concentrate on the film. You’ve got enough to worry about making the film to have those kind of stupid conversations.”
Acker, who chimed in there to mention how supportive Focus, which he calls a “director-driven” studio, has been on the project, said he didn’t originally conceive the story as a feature film. It was more of a director’s reel piece meant to secure other work for him as a filmmaker. But when Burton (and co-producer Timur Bekmambetov) took an interest and the project began to unfold as as a feature, he fell in love with the story all over again.
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Another animated title off the list…
In response to Brian’s item this week about Focus Features’ animated film slate, I’ve received notification from the studio that “Coraline,” the Neil Gaiman adaptation from Henry Selick (which looks extraordinary, I might add) is set for a February 2009 release. Obviously, this takes it off the line-up for Oscar contention this year, so update your lists.Additionally, though Brian notes that he “has heard that ‘Coraline’ [will be rated] PG-13,” Focus would like it known that the film has not yet been rated. Just so the air is clear on that.
The studio also insists that no release date has been settled yet for Shane Acker’s “9.” However, that doesn’t jive with another report I received earlier this month which indicated the film would be pushed to next year. According to the studio, since the film is still “in production,” they’re not committing to a date. Brian, meanwhile, was told at the early screening he attended that the flick was “still on for a Christmas 2008” release.
It’s all beside the point for now. Things shift and slide. Maybe the studio will find an opening in the holiday season for “9” and prime it for launch, maybe not. But none of it takes away from Brian’s point, that it is interesting to see the studio trying its hand at being an animation studio, and one dedicated to unconventional fare at that.
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Strike ‘9’
I just caught wind that Focus Features’ animated endeavor “9” from writer/director Shane Acker (and based on his Academy Award-nominated short film) has been slated for 2009, removing it from the already thin slate of contenders in the animated feature category. Apparently, this has always been the case, so I’ve either been out to lunch, going on bad information or both. It happens.The studio still, presumably, has a horse in the race with Henry Selick’s Neil Gaiman adaptation “Coraline,” should it maintain a platform release pattern that puts in in U.S. cinemas by the end of the year. We’ll see.
