Speaking with
Ain't It Cool News,
Chronicle screenwriter Max Landis discusses his take on
Frankenstein in Fox's upcoming remake. Earlier this week, we heard that Daniel Radcliffe (
Harry Potter) was in final talks to star in the film as Igor. Paul McGuigan (
Sherlock) is attached to direct. Landis talks here about what to expect from his story, confirming that this is not one of those fantasy reimaginings such as
Jack The Giant Slayer and
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters despite being dark and action-packed.
"I am, at the end of the day, a guy who loves story. So I came up with this idea for a story that I thought was touching, and exciting, and then as I was coming up with it I realized 'Oh, shit, this is Frankenstein.' And it's not some 'dark and gritty retelling/bad ass action reimagining,' that's not what I do, that's not what I'm interested in writing. Sure, a lot of my stuff is dark, and this does have dark bits and bad ass action, but it’s ultimately about characters." He then discusses the role of Igor (Radcliffe) in the film, and how it'll be different from prior incarnations.
"I realized we were missing Igor, the Igor everyone seemed to know, and I was like, 'Wait, what?' So I started watching ALL of the Frankenstein movies, from Mel Brooks to Peter Cushing to Robert De Niro, and realized that the only time Igor's actually been (Doctor?) Victor (Henry?) Frankenstein's assistant was in Monster Mash.
"That's when the idea came to me: instead of trying to do some high minded 'revisionist' Frankenstein, why not try to stay true to a version that only lives in the zeitgeist, and has NEVER REALLY EXISTED. And why not do it in an intelligent, hopefully, thoughtful way, about friendship and science, genius and madness, love and ambition, life and death? Why not use that imaginary, fairy dust framework of 'guy with hunchbacked assistant makes monster' and make it fun, sad, scary and hopefully, I really hope this, moving." Production on
Frankenstein is expected to begin this fall. It is based on Mary Shelley's acclaimed novel of the same name, and has been described as "a tale of friendship and redemption".
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