Depp, Verbinski Get Animated on Rango
Paramount, ILM Develops Film From Script By John Logan
Sep 10, 2008
A little bit of good news, a little bit of bad.
First the good news: Actor Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) are collaborating on an animated film called Rango. According to Variety, Paramount is financing and distributing the flick and Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucas' special effects shop, will handle the animation.
ILM did the special effects for Pirates of the Caribbean.
Verbinski’s Blind Wink Productions will produce the flick, as will Graham King and John Carls. Paramount-owned Nickelodeon Films is also jumping on the bandwagon.
According to Paramount, Rango will be the studio’s most ambitious, and star-driven entry, into animation so far. King’s GK Films imprint developed the project, which made the original deal with Verbinski
According to Verbinski, Rango aims to use cutting-edge animation techniques that "will allow us to capture and translate every aspect of Johnny’s performance, using it to drive the computer-generated character in a way that has yet to be seen in an animated feature."
Does this mean Rango will be motion-capture? Stay tuned for further details.
Rango: Yet Another Cutesy Talking Animals Flick?
Now the bad news: Depp will voice a household pet named Rango, who goes on an adventure to discover its true self.
The problem with this scenario is that cutesy talking animal flicks were all the rage circa 2006, when a glut of animated films flooded the marketplace. Some of them (Happy Feet, Over the Hedge) did well, but a larger proportion of them (Doogal, The Wild) crashed and burned at the box office.
Right now, the only possible hope for this film is that Depp is usually a little more daring with his choice of roles, and how he portrays them.
The classic example was, of course, Depp's Capt. Jack Sparrow character for the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. According to James B. Stewart's book Disney War, Mouse House executives freaked out over Depp's louche portrayal of the character - a cross between Looney Tunes icon Pepé Le Pew and Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards - claiming he was making Capt. Jack "gay." Disney president/CEO Michael Eisner went so far as to claim, "He's ruining the film!"
Naturally, Eisner and all those executives hurriedly reversed themselves when Depp's portrayal became the most popular aspect of the trilogy.
Writer John Logan (The Aviator) is penning the script, based on an idea by Verbinski. The director and Logan are also collaborating on the live-action thriller Bioshock for Universal, based on the best-selling Take-Two video game.
Rango is tentatively scheduled for a March 2011 release.
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