2021 marks the 30th anniversary of The Addams Family, and Paramount Home Entertainment recently released the movie on Digital 4K Ultra HD just in time for Halloween (on October 19). A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, as well as a remastered Blu-ray, will follow on November 23, 2021.
Newly remastered and restored under the supervision of director Barry Sonnenfeld, the movie will be presented in both the original theatrical version and a never-before-seen "More Mamushka!" version, which expands the memorable dance number. You'll also find a brand-new featurette looking back at the making of the film that includes behind-the-scenes footage and a new interview with Sonnenfeld, as well as an introduction to the restored cut by Sonnenfeld and an archival featurette.
We recently had the honour of catching up with the filmmaker to discuss The Addams Family's incredible legacy. Sonnenfeld also talks us through those oft-talked about behind-the-scenes issues, his cameo roles in both this movie Addams Family Values, and the current state of the franchise.
The director even reveals why a third chapter never became a reality, and opens up on Men in Black and his plans to adapt Metal Men for DC and Warner Bros. in the not too distant future.
The Addams Family is such a beloved film that’s always talked about, especially when Halloween rolls around, it’s hard to believe we’re talking about its 30th anniversary. What’s it been like for you to once again revisit it?
I forgot how much I liked it. I forgot how good the performances are. I loved working with those actors and when Paramount told me they were going to create a new digital master in 4K, I was excited for two reasons. One was it would let me do some better colour correcting. Back then, you didn’t have the tools you do now to subtly change the colours in a shot. That was really exciting for me. The other thing, and I’ve never done this before, is I asked Paramount if they could find the original cut and the negative of this full-length Mamushka that Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd perform. I had taken it out because I felt the movie was slightly too long even at 88 minutes. I regretted it as soon as we locked the picture and this is probably the only time in my career that I’ve ever had an interest in lengthening anything I’ve done or even making a different version. I always believe there should only be one version of a movie. There shouldn’t be director’s special editions or anything, but in this case, I always regretted pulling out the full Mamushka so I was excited to put it back in.
You made your directing debut with The Addams Family; did you ever have any reservations given what a beloved property it was in American pop culture or did you approach it as a chance to reinvent the family for a new audience?
I’ll tell you the truth, I loved, loved, loved the Charles Addams drawings that appeared in the New Yorker magazine. I wasn’t a particular fan of the television show, so for me, this was the opportunity to go back to the tone and visual style of the Charles Addams cartoons. That was very exciting for me because I grew up loving those. They were so visual. It was a great opportunity to make something much closer to his concept and tone as opposed to the television show.
I’ve read online that this was considered something of a troubled production at the time, but looking back at the movie all these years later after working on so many films and TV shows, do you feel it was as bad as some feared at the time?
It was a troubled production. So were the three Men in Black movies I worked on. It’s rare to not have some sort of trouble or difficulties in pulling it off. Sometimes, it’s weather. Sometimes, you never have the script right and you’re constantly rewriting. In the case of The Addams Family, a little bit of the problem was that we had a brilliant cinematographer, Owen Roizman, who did a phenomenal job but was very slow. The problem was, we kept falling more and more behind schedule and the studio, which was Orion Pictures, kept getting more and more concerned as we went over schedule because most feature films shoot twelve shots a day and we were doing three. It’s not because I wasn’t prepared because everything was storyboarded; the problem was it just took forever to light because they were very big sets and Owen was not a fast cameraman, but a beautiful cameraman. Orion was also going bankrupt; in fact, the only asset they had that could get them enough money to continue to pay their payroll, was to sell The Addams Family during production.
Halfway through production, Dede Allen, who is one of the great editors ever, cut together a ten-minute showreel and we went out to try and get another studio to buy it. On a Friday morning, Frank Mancuso Jr., who was running Paramount, bought it from Orion. That afternoon he was fired, not because he bought our movie, but some other issues. The next thing you know, he’s replaced by a Chairman who looks at the ten minutes of footage we put together and announces, ‘This movie is uncuttable and unreleasable!’ The whole second half of shooting the movie, I’m working for a studio that truly, the Chairman, hated it. True story, the only way I agreed to do Addams Family Values was I had it in my contract that any test screenings, that Chairman, Stanley Jaffe, had to bring his wife so that she could tell him when it was funny. That’s how bad it was! So, it was troubled in that way, but it wasn’t troubled because people were taking drugs, no one knew what they were doing, or friction on the set. It was all about budget, really.
A fun bit of trivia I’m not sure many fans will know, of course, is that you had cameo roles in both Addams Family films. How much fun was it for you being able to step in front of the camera for those?
You know, I hate seeing myself in the mirror, let alone on film. I keep putting myself in these cameos I hope are small enough so that my bad acting doesn’t show. I know how to direct actors, but I can’t act. In the first one, the image of me is actually taken verbatim from one of the Charles Addams drawings. It’s a pretty famous drawing of a commuter on a train looking out the window and seeing this man’s face playing with his Lionel train set controller. When Gomez did that scene where he’s angry at Fester and he’s playing with his train set, I thought it was the perfect time for me to put myself on that train. I love that moment and it’s pure Charles Addams. In the second one, I play David Krumholtz’s dad. By the way, David is basically playing me. That was me growing up, overprotected. I love that line in the sequel, ‘You know what happens if my mother uses fabric softener?’ ‘I die.’ [Laughs] In A Series of Unfortunate Events, which I did for Netflix, I just kept putting myself in portraits. In every episode, there’s a painting of me as a different character. If you go back and watch that series, you’ll see me as a painting as I thought that would take care of any acting issues!
I’m a huge Men in Black fan and I know you’ve said that a fourth film from you is unlikely, but do you see that changing, especially after International didn’t quite strike the same chord with fans as your trilogy?
No, I’m done with the Men in Black thing as I’m sure Tommy and Will are too. They were too hard. It was too much and there were too many issues making those shows. We never agreed upon scripts with the producers and it just became less and less fun. What’s funny is that F. Gary Grey not only directed Men in Black: International, but he also directed Be Cool which was a sequel to Get Shorty. I joke that F. Gary Grey is sort of like my sequel director.
I know Men in Black was very loosely based on a comic book, but is that superhero genre one that interests you? I remember there was talk online of you directing Metal Men back in 2012...
You know, it’s funny because I am developing Metal Men with Warner Bros. We’re actively working on a treatment for that. For me, it’s not so much a superhero thing as it is world-building. If you look at the work I’ve done, whether it’s The Addams Family, Men in Black, Pushing Daisies, Schmigadoon!, or A Series of Unfortunate Events, it’s all about creating a world. An unusual, slightly off-kilter quirky, different kind of world; that’s what I love doing. It’s not specifically, necessarily superhero, but even in Metal Men, that I am developing, it’s going to be a very specific kind of world. It’s a real world because I always like things to be reality-based, but slightly with a tilt to that. It all started with The Addams Family which is both real but slightly pushed.
Going back to The Addams Family, we’ve seen it become an animated franchise and Tim Burton is developing a Wednesday TV series; what are your thoughts on those and do you think there’s still room for this family to return to the big screen in live-action?
I don’t know [Laughs]. I do think that what’s great about The Addams Family…when the movie came out, I remember all the critics, who gave it great reviews, would all make the same joke, which is what a dysfunctional family they are. I think what’s so attractive about this and why it keeps being redone is that it’s just the opposite: it’s the most functional family in the world. You’ve never seen a husband more in love. You’ve never seen parents who are more unconditionally loving and not helicopter parents; they let their kids learn from mistakes and give them freedom. I wish I grew up with Gomez and Morticia as my parents. For me, I think what’s attractive to audiences and why it keeps getting redone is that it’s off-kilter, kind of macabre, harmless and not bloody, but a little bit subversive in a good way. That’s why it keeps being regenerated in a good way.
The movie obviously ended up being a huge hit and that spawned a sequel that got great reviews but didn’t take off the same way financially; were you disappointed not to get the chance to direct a third chapter before the franchise, unfortunately, started going direct to video?
I was disappointed in the box office for the second film. I think the first film is more romantic and the second film is funnier. Part of the reason it didn’t do as well is that the marketing of the movie was so similar to the first one that people didn’t think it was going to be any value-added and I really wanted to push the Pubert of it all and the Fester of it all. Instead, the whole campaign was back with the original Addams Family, so it wasn’t really promising anything new. I think that’s in part why it didn’t do as well. Many people love it as much or more as the first one. I don’t know why I even did Men in Black 3. At some point, you just don’t want to keep going back to that same well. I would not have done a third Addams Family. Then Raul [Julia] died, so that also did away with any likelihood of that ever happening. It would have to be reinvented. I was really happy with the two. The second was really easy and fun to work on. Joan Cusack was extraordinary as were our little twin girls who played Pubert. We would paint moustaches on them every morning and they were just adorable and excellent!