If you are either a fan of Michael Jackson or of a certain age when he was at his prime, you might already know that for a period of time, the superstar artist was famously accompanied by a certain Chimpanzee companion, a public display of Michael’s eccentric (and controversial) behavior. Were you ever curious as to what the story behind that infamously odd relationship was? If a studio responsible for a recent R-rated stop-motion film has its way, than you might be able to get the story.
Deadline has recently revealed in an exclusive report that Bubbles, Issac Adamson’s screenplay about the eponymous Chimp, has been acquired by indie film studio End Cue for Dan Harmon (of Community fame) and his Starburns Industries banner to produce as a stop-motion animated feature.
Some of you might not know this, but Dan Harmon did in fact recently produce Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufman’s stop-motion indie film that opened to critical praise and high award buzz (including five Annie nominations). That was all after the film caught fire at last year’s Toronto Film Festival and was acquired by Paramount Pictures. If Deadline‘s report is to be believed, Bubbles is expected to be developed in the same spirit.
This development also highlights an interesting rarity: Bubbles (if it gets made) will be the first animated feature to be developed from a script that originated from The Black List, an annual online list of unproduced screenplays published online for the eyes of Hollywood talent to read. Even more impressive was that Bubbles was the top script of the 2015 list. While that’s not necessarily an indicator of quality, it does signify that there was a substantial amount of interest in the screenplay prior to the news.
As for the script itself, Bubbles examines the tumultuous life and history of Michael Jackson’s career through the perspective of the titular character, who doubles as both the main POV and narrator of the tale. The story spans the entirety of their relationship together, from when Bubbles was first adopted from an Austin, Texas research facility in 1983 to when his aggressiveness to the Jackson family got him relocated to an animal sanctuary in Florida during the early 2000’s.
According to the report, Adamson’s script was considered an inventive way of telling Michael’s story without needing permission from the Jackson estate, which in turn made it attractive to a number of producers and studios.
Adamson will serve as executive producer on the project with Lee Stobby, while Harmon and End Cue’s Andrew Kortschak will produce.
What do you think? Are you interested in Bubbles as a movie?
Edited by: Kelly Conley
