George Clooney: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson Confirms Star for his Adaptation of Roald Dahl Classic
George Clooney (at least his agent) has confirmed that he has taken title role in animated film The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Wes Anderson will direct Roald Dahl adaptation.
(Source: www.clooneystudio.com)
Fox Animation, the studio best known for the Ice Age film franchise, said in October it was going to distribute Wes Anderson's adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic children's novel The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Anderson also said he was going stop-motion on this one.
Anderson directed Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. To have him writing and directing a Roald Dahl story was definite cause for celebration in the often-puerile world of family-oriented, animated films.
In February, George Clooney was "in negotiations" to voice the title role of Mr. Fox. Cate Blanchett (The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Hot Fuzz) was already confirmed to voice the role of Mrs. Fox, while Anderson regulars Jason Schwartzman (Marie Antoinette, Rushmore) and Anjelica Huston (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou) were still negotiating salaries.
Many movie sites (like IMDb) said Clooney's involvement in The Fantastic Mr. Fox was a done deal. Finally, Clooney Studio (the best known of Clooney's fan sites, since The Clooney doesn't have an official website) went to Bryan Lourd, George's agent, to see if Clooney had worked out a deal with Anderson and Fox.
The following is a quote from their website:" Bryan confirmed to me that George has signed on to the movie." But does George Clooney have the voice acting chops to do credit to the role?
The Fantastic Mr. Fox is scheduled for a November 9, 2009 release date. It'll be Fox Animation's follow up to another adaptation of a classic children's book, Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel's Horton Hears a Who. Fox is also working on the as-yet-untitled Ice Age 3.
Fun Fact: Jason Schwartzman and Anjelica Huston also hooked up to make the live-action flick The Darjeeling Limited, which Anderson wrote with Roman Coppola, son of Francis Ford Coppola and cousin to both Schwartzman and Nicolas Cage.The Darjeeling Limited stars Owen Wilson (Cars), Adrien Brody (King Kong) and Natalie Portman (V for Vendetta). It's currently in post-production, and is scheduled for a December 25th release date.
