Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Danny Huston in Talks for "Big Eyes"



The Hollywood Reporter states that actor Danny Huston is in talks to be in Tim Burton's latest film, Big Eyes. The Golden Globe-nominated actor would play "a burnt-out, heavy-drinking gossip reporter."

Huston has recently appeared in two independent live-action films -- Boxing Day and Two Jacks -- and also provides a voice for Ari Folman's latest animated film, The Congress, which premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Big Eyes is the true story of the relationship between artist Margaret Keane (who will be played by Amy Adams) and her husband, Walter (played by Christoph Waltz). The drama, with a script by Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander (who previously worked with Burton on Ed Wood), centers on a decades-long dispute between the two after their 1965 divorce over who actually painted the picture. Principal photography on the low-budget film is expected to begin in Vancouver this July.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Burton's Advice to New Filmmakers


Harvey Weinstein and Tim Burton at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival (FNN).

Article originally by Chris Kensler at Fox News:

Cannes, France – “Everyone thinks I’m about death!”

That was Tim Burton’s (“Corpse Bride,” “Frankenweenie,” “Nightmare Before Christmas,” etc .,etc.) exasperated answer to why he was involved in the “Life Is Amazing” short film series presented by Lexus at the Cannes Film Festival.

Burton , Harvey Weinstein, and newcomer Ryan Coogler, whose movie ‘Fruitvale Station’ played at Cannes after winning the two biggest prizes at Sundance, sat down to talk about why short films are so, well, awesome.

“A short film, when you get it right, there’s nothing like it,” Burton said. “It’s like a song.”

“One of the first short films I ever saw was a movie by the name of ‘Vincent’ by this dude right here,” Coogler chimed in, pointing at Burton.

Weinstein said he was also a big fan of Burton’s early work.

“When Disney bought Miramax the first time they said, ‘What is the first movie you’d like to see or borrow from the company,” Weinstein said. “And I said ‘I want to see the original ‘Frankenweenie’.”

“I think they showed it at 2 a.m. on the Disney Channel,” Burton joked about one of his earliest films, which he remade into a big budget feature last year.

The “Batman” director told the six short film directors, chosen by Lexus for the series, to buckle down because their careers will never get any easier, even if they flourish.

“I’ve done a couple successful movies, so I thought, well, it will be easy to get this one done, but it never is,” Burton said. “Each film is a real challenge to get mounted no matter who you are or how much success you’ve had. It feels like the first time each time, no kidding.”
Weinstein encouraged young filmmakers to stick to their guns “and never give up.”

“Or call Harvey,” Burton laughed.

"Big Eyes" Begins Filming in Vancouver in July



The Province reports that Tim Burton is heading to Vancouver to shoot his next film, Big Eyes, with Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams. The low-budget film (at $20 million) is about the true story of artist Margaret Keane and her husband, Walter, who claimed credit for her popular sad-eyed paintings of little children in the 1960s.

Burton is a collector of Mrs. Keane's paintings, and even once had a specially commissioned painting done by Keane in her style of his former girlfriend, Lisa Marie.

Big Eyes will be filming in Canada for seven weeks starting in July.

Monday, May 06, 2013

Burton Leaves Robert Downey Jr. "Pinocchio" Project

According to Deadline, Tim Burton is no longer attached to direct a live-action adaptation of Pinocchio starring Robert Downey, Jr. as Geppetto. This is likely because Burton's next directorial project will be Big Eyes, starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz.

Downey has said that he might be interested in having Ben Stiller direct the film. Dan Jinks is still attached to produce, and Jane Goldman has written the most recent draft of the script.