DreamWorks gets Master Mind
Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld produce superhero spoof
DreamWorks Animation will distribute Master Mind, a superhero satire script written by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons. Also: Madagascar sequel named!
(Writer's Note: This was rewritten from a press release sent out by DreamWorks Animation)
DreamWorks Animation has acquired the rights to Master Mind, a script written by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons (the upcoming Small Soldiers 2). Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld will produce the flick, along with DreamWorks, through their Red Hour Films Imprint. Red Hour's Lara Breay brought the script to Red Hour and DreamWorks' attention. She and DreamWorks' Chris Kuser will oversee the flick's development.
Master Mind is a satire on the superhero genre. The plot follows a super villain (presumably named Master Mind) who loses his reason for existence after accidentally killing off his nemesis, Uberman, in the first scene of the film.
This is Ben Stiller's first foray into the production side of things for DreamWorks Animation. He previously voiced the role of Alex the Lion in the hit Madagascar, and will reprise the role in its sequel, Madagascar: The Crate Escape. It's not known whether Stiller will voice a role in Master Mind, although it's expected he will.
As for Red Hour Films, the imprint has a solid history cranking out live-action comedies like Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Starsky and Hutch, Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny, and the current #1 box office holder Blades of Glory.
“Stuart and Lara and I are really excited to be working with DreamWorks Animation on this project," said Stiller in the press release. "We all think the script is really smart and really funny. They have put the film on the fast track, which in animation terms means it will be coming out in the next 15 to 20 years.”
“We are looking forward to collaborating again with Ben, this time on the production side of things," added DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. "His creativity and signature sense of humor will lend itself perfectly to this project."
DreamWorks Animation veterans Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson will make their feature-length debut with Master Mind. Their first effort together, the animated short First Flight, did well playing in front of last year's feature flick Over the Hedge.
Graduates of Oakville's Sheridan College animation program, the duo first worked for DreamWorks Animation on the film Prince of Egypt before assisting on The Road to El Dorado, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Shrek, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Shark Tale.
"(Hood and Jefferson) are two valued members of our DreamWorks Animation family," said Katzenberg. "Their short First Flight was such a beautiful, original piece, and we believe the promise it showed will be on full display in Master Mind.”
