Robert Zemeckis Prepping Roger Rabbit Sequel
Original Writers Jeffrey Price, Peter Seaman Writing Script
Oct 31, 2009
For a while now, Robert Zemeckis has been dropping hints that he'd like to work up a sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the 1988 hit that combined classic Warner Bros. and Disney cartoon characters with live actors.
This past April, he mentioned that he had "a good idea" for a sequel. On July 22nd, he claimed he had been discussing the project with actor Bob Hoskins (Eddie Valiant) and a day later, he told an audience at Comic-Con that he "would neither confirm nor deny" that he was working on a follow-up.
Even more interestingly, animator Eric Goldberg told an audience at the 2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival that he would "neither confirm nor deny" that he had been approached to act as animation director for a Roger Rabbit sequel.
Now Zemeckis claims that he's brought back the writers of the original movie – Peter Seaman and Jeffrey Price – to scribble a potential sequel.
"There's a script that's being developed," Zemeckis told MTV News, adding, "We've got the original writers that are working on it now — Seaman and Price."
Can Roger Zemeckis Get Steven Spielberg, Warner Bros. and Disney Together for Roger Rabbit Sequel? Will It Be Motion Capture?
Of course the trick is whether (a) he can get Steven Spielberg back on board, (b) convince Disney and Warner Bros. to allow him to use their classic cartoon characters again, and (c) whether he'll try using the motion-capture technology he's been using on films like Polar Express, Beowulf, and the upcoming A Christmas Carol.
Certainly Disney won't be a problem, since they're distributing A Christmas Carol. The fact that Michael Eisner is no longer CEO of the Mouse House will probably mollify Spielberg, since it was Eisner who screwed Spielberg by attaching the Roger Rabbit short, 'Roller Coaster Rabbit,' to the troubled Dick Tracy instead of Spielberg's own Arachnophobia.
That leaves Warner Bros: the WB will see dollar signs in a Roger Rabbit sequel – the first film was the biggest hit of 1988, after all – the only question will be whether they price themselves out of the market by demanding too much.
Zemeckis also denied having anything to do with the various sequel plans that Disney put together and scuppered during the 1990's.
"I think there was a time right after the movie came out that the Disney regime at the time — it was a point in the life of the studio where if you made a successful movie they could no longer afford to hire you back," Zemeckis laughed. "I guess there were some projects that I don't know anything about."
Ah yes, the Michael Eisner era, where being good at your job immediately made you a mortal threat to the administration. Just ask Jeffrey Katzenberg, Michael Ovitz, Steve Jobs and countless others.
No word as yet on whether this Roger Rabbit sequel will actually go anywhere, since it depends on Disney, Warner Bros. and Spielberg getting into the same sandbox and playing nice. There's also that tiny matter of original writer Gary Wolf's 20-year lawsuit with the Mouse House, but that doesn't seem to be hampering this new film's development so far.
Stay tuned for any further developments.
Fun Fact: Warner Bros. would only release Bugs Bunny on the condition that he have exactly the same number of lines as Disney's Mickey Mouse. Writers Seaman and Price got around that condition by featuring the two characters in the same scene.
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