Plot: The story focuses on the Man in the Yellow Hat and his mischievous monkey, George.
The Buzz: Thanks to financial trouble brought on by a number of major box-office disappointments last year (Babe: Pig in the City and Meet Joe Black), Universal Pictures may not yet be done dropping some of its anticipated upcoming projects. Recently the studio let go of Kevin Costner's Cuban Missile Crisis thriller 13 Days, only to have it land on Sony's doorstep. Now, it looks like the same may happen with Universal's live-action Curious George movie with Disney receiving.
According to a report in Variety, Curious George has been put in turnaround at the studio, and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment are apparently none too pleased about it. They've reportedly begun pitching the movie to other studios, with Disney on the inside track to snare the monkey in case Universal sets the project free. The trade cites the amount of costly FX work needed for the movie as one of the motivating factors behind Universal's alleged decision. Players:
TBD Crew: Larry Guterman / Director Linda Woolverton / Screenwriter David Kirshner, Jon Shapiro, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer / Executive Producers Universal or Disney / Distributor (unconfirmed)
Status: In development Release Date: Holiday 1999
News and Rumors: November 1, 1999 In addition to signing on as helmer of the eventual Curious George live-action film project, Iron Giant director Brad Bird, has a few other projects on his plate. According to Variety, two of them are:
The Incredibles An animated feature for Warner Bros. This film will focus on a family of superheroes. Bird is writing and will direct the project.
Ray Gunn Another animated feature, though this one is being shopped around for a home. The trade reports that this was originally in development at Turner Pictures. It’s described as a cross between Buck Rogers and Raymond Chandler taking place in a streamlined city of the future. The potential feature has a script by Bird and Matthew Robbins.
November 1, 1999 It looks as if the delayed Imagine Entertainment Curious George movie project is back on its legs again. Way back in January, the picture had been placed in turnaround at Universal with the possibility of Disney taking it on, but then no further word until now. Now, according to Variety, Universal still has the pic with Imagine and they’ve hired helmer Brad Bird (The Iron Giant) to develop and direct the eventual feature. Furthermore, Bird will also hire a scribe to write a new script for the project as well as supervise the writing of that script.
As previously planned, the film, which will be based on the classic books by Margret and H.A. Rey, will be realized via live-action combined with CGI. Curious George will be Bird’s first live-action project as director.
January 8, 1999 Thanks to financial trouble brought on by a number of major box-office disappointments last year (Babe: Pig in the City and Meet Joe Black), Universal Pictures may not yet be done dropping some of its anticipated upcoming projects. Recently the studio let go of Kevin Costner's Cuban Missile Crisis thriller 13 Days, only to have it land on Sony's doorstep. Now, it looks like the same may happen with Universal's live-action Curious George movie with Disney receiving.
According to a report in Variety, Curious George has been put in turnaround at the studio, and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment are apparently none too pleased about it. They've reportedly begun pitching the movie to other studios, with Disney on the inside track to snare the monkey in case Universal sets the project free. The trade cites the amount of costly FX work needed for the movie as one of the motivating factors behind Universal's alleged decision.
May 5, 1998 Imagine Entertainment's upcoming Curious George feature film is looking to a "Holiday 1999" release date, according to an official press release.
March 9, 1998 Today's Hollywood Reporter reveals that Imagine Entertainment has signed Larry Guterman to direct a live-action version of the children's favorite Curious George. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard will produce the flick which will center on the Man in the Yellow Hat and his mischievous monkey, the latter of which will be created via CGI. "The world of the movie will be one of heightened reality in primary colors and a huge scale," Grazer told the Reporter. The film is now on track for a holiday 1999 release.
Article typed up and Courtesy of Todd's Curious George Galore
