If that headline isn’t jam-packed with all kinds of awesome, I don’t know what is. It’s been announced that a new stop-motion animated feature titled Wendell and Wild is coming to Netflix.
And if that’s not exciting enough, the movie is going to be directed by stop-motion legend Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, James and the Giant Peach) and star Keegan-Michael Key (The Lion King, The Predator) and recent Oscar winner Jordan Peele (Get Out, Big Mouth), the duo behind Key and Peele and Keanu.
There’s still plenty of goodies from E3 2017 to share, but while we take a break from video games for a moment, it’s an excellent time to share a little bit of news related to…well, video games! It’s been announced that the recent indie hit Little Nightmares is now being turned into a television series.
The series is being developed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo along with DJ2 Entertainment, who is currently working on multiple video game adaptations such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Life is Strange. But perhaps most exciting about the potential TV series? Henry Selick, the director behind stop-motion favorites such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, is attached to direct the pilot episode and maybe more episodes after that.
Director Henry Selick is known as the man to call when you want to make a stop motion animated films. His top credit is of course The Nightmare Before Christmas, and his other works include Coraline and James and the Giant Peach. His next feature is also a stop motion movie, titled The Shadow King.
Selick has only once directed a live-action movie before, Monkeybone, and even that was partially animated. But now he’s ready to give it another go with a new fairy tale project titled A Tale Dark and Grimm.
After completing his work on Coraline, stop-motion director Henry Selick headed over to Walt Disney Studios to work on a new mysterious stop-motion animated feature. That was back in 2010. Now Variety reports that the studio pulled the plug on the project and that the film could find new life at another studio.
Selick gave Disney The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, two solid stop-motion animated features. But as to why this particular project was halted, sources told the trade that the film was at “a creative and scheduling standpoint” and that it “wasn’t where it needed to be to meet its planned release date.” Production for the film started last summer.
From the Haunted Mansion to the cemetery, Disney has acquired the rights to acclaimed author Neil Gaiman‘s Newbery Award-winning 2008 youth novel, The Graveyard Book.
Deadline also reports that Henry Selick (Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas) will be directing the stop-motion adaptation of Gaiman’s kid-friendly novel, which is still looking for a screenwriter.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press