Author: Ryan Ball

Renowned artist and video game creator American McGee (American McGee’s Alice) has been tapped by Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer to write the screenplay for the feature film based on his American McGee’s Oz toyline and upcoming video game. McGee gave us the scoop Wednesday evening during a phone interview.

“It’s my first official writing engagement with a major studio,” McGee comments. “The project’s moving forward. I literally just got back from our first official meeting to discuss writing it.”

Screenwriters Kevin and Dan Hageman were originally attached to pen the pic. “When we sold the project, [Disney] already had these guys in mind and were talking to them about some other stuff,” McGee explains. “They had recently come off of working with Steven Spielberg and had a lot of momentum in town. But I think the official line is that they ended up having creative differences.”

McGee is working from an original story he wrote and pitched to Disney and Bruckheimer. “There are actually three living versions,” McGee tells us. “One is the story for the game, the second is the synopsis/treatment that we used to sell the film’a more compressed version of what happens in the game’and then there’s an expanded version created for the novel. They all have a little bit of a different color to them but all have the same characters on the same quest.”

The Oz novel, co-authored McGee and Camden Joy, will be published by Warner Books. Video game rights are still being negotiated. Carbon6, the interactive entertainment franchise properties company co-founded by McGee and Anthony Jacobson, owns the intellectual property rights.

Described as a sort of prequel to what happens in L. Frank Baum’s original novels, McGee’s take on Oz takes place way before Dorthy and Toto arrive, focusing instead on a reluctant hero who comes to save the enchanted world. The filmmakers plan to blend live-action with a heavy CG element.

If your’re familiar with the unique twist McGee put on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland with the video game and toyline, American McGee’s Alice, then you should know that this new vision of Oz will be very different from the movie you grew up watching on TV every spring. McGee’s vision latches onto the more sinister elements of Baum’s mythology and aims for a more mature audience. “It’s a war-torn Oz,” McGee explains. “We’re talking about something in the vein of Pirates of the Caribbean, which Bruckheimer did with Disney and had a lot of success with. We want to create a similar tone, but maybe a little bit darker. Lord of the Rings may be the direction we’re going.”

McGee is hoping his new screenwriting gig will give him some clout as he shops American McGee’s Grimm, a screenplay he wrote that’s set in the world of the Brothers Grimm fairytales. “We’re out talking to directors about that project right now but we’ve kind of put the pitching on hold until we could announce that we’ve sold me writing Oz. But now that this has been announced, we’re going to go a little faster on selling Grimm.

According to McGee, the difference between his screenplay and Terry Gilliam’s upcoming feature, The Brothers Grimm, is that Gilliam’s film is set in a more real world, much like Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hallow. “This Grimm story I’ve written is set in an alternate universe, a fairytale world, and the characters in it are full of magic,” notes McGee. “The main character is a kid who’s the son of King Midas, but that’s about all I can say about it right now.”

McGee served as exec producer on developer/publisher Enlight’s recently released video game, Scrapland. He is now overseeing design on an insane new game titled Bad Day LA while he works to grow Crbon6 into a multi-media powerhouse.

“One thing we’re trying to do is prove that we can do it all under one roof, like what Blizzard and Pixar do,” says McGee. “When people look at all the different things we have our fingers in, they’re like, ‘God, you guys are all over the place.’ But the ultimate goal is to be a Disney-type organization but with the actual ability to do all the things that Disney does under one roof’from the print materials to the game to the toys to the film.”

The Hollywood Reporter today brings word that Disney is indeed diving back into the toy box to craft a new adventure for Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head and their plastic pals. Pixar Animation Studios produced the first two films in the franchise but will not be involved in this latest outing.

Under Walt Disney Feature Animation president David Stainton, Disney is reportedly establishing a computer animation facility in Glendale, Calif., and hopes to staff it by luring top talent from other studios and vfx houses. Also involved in the project is Andrew Millstein, former head of Disney’s defunct Orlando facility.

Disney’s resolve to exercise its rights and further exploit the Toy Story franchise indicates that the company has relinquished all hope for an extension on its partnership with Pixar, which expires after next year’s release of John Lasseter’s Cars. While Lasseter and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs have expressed a reluctance to turn over creative control of Toy Story, they’ve said in the past that they are more interested in creating new characters and stories like this year’s Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Toy Story 2 was the only sequel Pixar has made and that was originally slated to be a direct-to-video release.

Though DreamWorks proved this summer that there’s gold in sequels, Pixar’s The Incredibles has captured the imagination of moviegoers and is on track to become the studio’s biggest hit yet. The superhero family comedy earned an estimated $144 million in just two weeks.

While the Toy Story brand and characters are likely to draw big crowds at theaters, it will be interesting to see what percentage of the original voice cast comes back to continue the saga without Pixar. John Ratzenberger, the voice of piggy bank Hamm, for one may exhibit loyalty to Pixar since he gets voice work in every film the studio makes.

While it may be off to a fairly slow start at megaplexes, Sony’s CG-animated holiday pic, The Polar Express, is making record time at IMAX theaters, where it’s being presented in 3D. The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience earned $3 million in 59 North American IMAX theatres since Wednesday, which is the biggest opening for a film released simultaneously in 35mm and IMAX formats.

The Polar Express is the first-ever Hollywood feature to be converted to IMAX 3D. The novelty has paid off with strong advance sales and sold-out shows at many venues. In fact, The Henry Ford IMAX Theatre in Dearborn, Michigan reported that all 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. weekday shows through to the holiday season have already sold out, largely due to school field trips. In addition, a number of new IMAX theatres opened just in time for the film’s Nov. 10 release.

Gimmick may be selling tickets, but according to IMAX co-chairmen and co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler, the movie is delivering the goods. They comment, “Based on preliminary research conducted at select IMAX theatres nationwide, audiences are reporting an incredible 96% satisfaction rate and an equally impressive 93% intent to recommend response, which are the most positive results we’ve received for an IMAX digitally re-mastered film to date. This is translating into strong box office results and strong word of mouth, which bodes well for the legs of the film.”

The conventional 2D, computer-generated pic has been converted into stereoscopic 3D and then digitally blown up to 10 times the size of 35mm film by way of IMAX DMR technology. Special IMAX 3D glasses help bring depth to the images, creating an immersive experience when combined with more than 12,000 watts of digital surround sound.

The Polar Express is the latest collaboration between the Academy Award-winning team of Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Cast Away). The holiday adventure is based on the classic Caldecott Medal-winning children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. Go behind the scenes of this one-of-a-kind production in the upcoming January issue of Animation Magazine.

The weekend turned into an animated battle at the box office as Sony’s holiday pic, The Polar Express, took a run at Disney/Pixar’s superhero spoof, The Incredibles. When the smoke cleared, Bob Par and family indeed proved more powerful than a locomotive. The Incredibles held onto the top spot with an estimated $51 million while The Polar Express pulled around $23.5 to claim second place.

The Incredibles only slipped 27.6% in its second weekend and now stands at around $144 million. The film was directed by Brad Bird, whose feature debut, The Iron Giant, returns to video shelves tomorrow with a special edition loaded with extra features including feature-length commentary with the director.

Buoyed by the incredible second week, Pixar’s stocks hit an all-time high, trading at $93.42 at one point this morning, according to Reuters. The rally comes after prices dipped when The Incredibles opened below the projected $80 million.

With a budget of around $170 million, The Polar Express has a long way to go to break even since it’s only made an estimated $30.8 million since Wednesday. However, the innovative CG family flick should have strong legs over the holiday period, especially if word-of-mouth proves positive. The film is performing strongly at the 59 IMAX theaters that showcase the 3Dversion, thanks in part to attendance from school groups.

There was little room for adult fare to shine this weekend. New Line’s heist movie, After the Sunset, bowed in third place with an estimated $11.5 million, while Universal’s sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, brought in just under $9 million to debut in the No. 4 spot. Rounding out the top five is Focus Features’ Seed of Chucky with around $8.7 million, a good bow for the $12 million fifth installment in the comic horror franchise.

This weekend sees yet another big animated feature enter the arena as The SpongeBob SquarePants movie opens Friday, Nov. 19. The predominantly 2D pic will benefit from a built-in audience, but will it be enough to prove that a traditionally animated movie can hold its own at a time when 3D toons are dominating the box office? Only time will tell.