Another live-action director is taking a crack at feature animation. This time around, the director’s talent and the format involved couldn’t have been made for a more perfect marriage.
The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline broke the news that Edgar Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim VS. The World and co-writer/executive producer of Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man, has signed on to direct his first animated feature with DreamWorks Animation. Based on a script he will co-write with author and comedian David Walliams, the film will center on the concept of shadows.
Before you get really excited, this is not the long-gestating 2D/3D-hybrid project Me & My Shadow. If sources close to Deadline are to be believed, Edgar’s film will be a new take on the same concept. Me & My Shadow, as far as anyone is concerned, is practically dead (unless confirmed otherwise).
“Edgar will spearhead a new approach to this fascinating concept and we’re ecstatic to have him on board as director along with David as co-writer,” DreamWorks Animation’s co-presidents of feature animation Bonnie Arnold and Mireille Soria said in a statement to THR. “We’ve always been intrigued by a film concept involving shadows, and now with Edgar’s signature comedic style and abilities as a natural storyteller, audiences will be treated to a truly captivating and energetic tale.”
“My first endeavors in filmmaking as a teenager were in animation, so it was hugely intriguing to get a call from DreamWorks Animation about potentially directing,” Wright said in a statement to Deadline. “When the Shadows concept was suggested to me, I could see the poster, the title sequence and pretty much the whole movie. It’s a blast writing this and to have one of my oldest friends in comedy, David Walliams, along for the adventure is a thrill.”
Head of development Gregg Taylor and development executive Damon Ross are overseeing the project for the studio.
Oddly enough, Edgar Wright was on my list of five live-action directors who I felt needed to take a crack at animation. You could say that this is a wish that’s well-fulfilled, as Edgar is known for his distinct visual language and styling in each of his films. That makes him more than perfectly suited for feature animation, a medium where he can really stretch his arms and legs and do things that (on a visual level) wouldn’t be possible to do in live-action or would be too costly otherwise.
This won’t be Edgar’s only dip in the animation pool (sort of). He is also working on a live-action/animation hybrid adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s story, Fortunately, The Milk (with Johnny Depp attached). Also, while he didn’t the direct the movie, he did co-write the script for Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin.
What do you think? Are you excited for Edgar Wright’s first entry into feature animation? In your opinion, is Me & My Shadow dead for good?
Edited by: Kelly Conley
