What’s next for “Tim Burton” after “Beetlejuice 2,” now titled “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” hits theaters on September 6? Deadline reports that the director will team up with Warner Bros. again for a remake of “Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman.” Yes, you read that correctly: Burton will remake the 1985 sci-fi cult film, perhaps best known for its iconic poster. And here’s the kicker: Gillian Flynn, the writer behind “Gone Girl,” will pen the film’s script.
READ MORE: Most Anticipated 2024: 27 Blockbusters & Big Spectacle Movies To Watch
What kind of power play does Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy have in mind here? Is this yet another female-centric pic from Warner Bros. after “Barbie” took Hollywood by storm last summer? Or is this Burton delivering another genre nostalgia project á la 1996’s “Mars Attacks!“? In any case, Burton and Flynn working together is an eyebrow-raiser, and immediately makes “Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman” a project to keep an eye on.
For those who haven’t seen the 1958 original, Allison Hayes stars as a wealthy heiress who grows into a giantess after a close encounter with aliens. The whole ordeal complicates her already troubled domestic life with her womanizing husband, as Hayes becomes a problem too big to ignore. One imagines Flynn will deliver a sharp update to the sci-fi classic, complete with “Barbie”-like meta-commentary on womanhood in the 21st century.
Burton will produce “Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman” with Andrew Mittman and Tommy Harper. Kai Dolbashian will serve as executive producer. As for Flynn, she adds the film’s script to her upcoming projects, which includes a limited series adaptation she co-creates, writes, and runs of her novel “Dark Places” for HBO. After adapting “Gone Girl” for David Fincher in 2014, the ex-reporter jumped from novel writing to screenwriting full-time, also penning the 2018 Steve McQueen thriller “Widows.” Flynn also won an Emmy for adapting her debut novel “Sharp Objects” into an HBO limited series.
If her work is any prediction, expect “Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman” to get a dark, crimeridden bent in Flynn’s update. Or maybe this will be a big departure for her in terms of tone and content. But it won’t be so for Burton, who looks like he’ll be right in his wheelhouse with this project. If shooting on “Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman” starts soon, expect it in theaters next summer.
