He gets knocked down, but he gets up again. The screenwriter of two of this years big disappointments isn’t done for yet, as he hopes to write BEETLEJUICE 2 and IT. Seth Grahame-Smith is the author for the literary phenomenons PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES and ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER. Grahame-Smith managed to set upon a partnership with director Tim Burton and scripted Burton’s DARK SHADOWS and the Burton produced adaptation of his own novel ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER. Unfortunately for Grahame-Smith, both of these films failed to light up the box-office. However, Grahame-Smith is very honest and reflective about the whole situation.
I’ve thought a lot about this summer and what it means. On one hand I got to make two movies with some extraordinary visionary filmmakers…. On the other, the movies didn’t work. So while it’s great to be on the scoreboard, you also have to own the fact that you’re now 0-2.
Grahame-Smith is currently working on a script for another Burton film, the stop-motion animated NIGHT OF THE LIVING, and GRAHAME-SMITH is still hopeful that he will get to write a sequel to 1988s BEETLE JUICE. It’s nice to see Tim Burton sticking to his guns and not just leaving Grahame-Smith out to dry. Grahame-Smith’s very own production studio, Katzsmith, which he co-runs with David Katzenberg, are set to produce both of those films as well as the upcoming Stephen King adaptation IT. Grahame-Smith is set to produce IT but is not taking on writing duties.
On top of all this, he also has a screenplay to write for Warner Bros. based on his book UNHOLY NIGHT, another revisionist take but this time looking at Jesus and the Nativity story. All in all he’s a very busy man, and even though this year may have not been incredibly successful, he is certainly looking to improve. Something I think the man should be saluted for.
I believe that I now have to earn back some of that cred with the audience because I think that people are going to look at me a little skeptically. And that’s fine, they should. I want to be judged harshly because that forces me to really sit down and focus.
Source: LA Times
Jonathan
Aug 10, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Seth, Let me say first of all, that Dark Shadows failed primarily because you, Burton, and Depp made it into a puerile comedy. If you had given the original material the respect it was due instead of turning it into a farce, it would have been brilliant. Too bad Depp used the occasion to give a hammy performance and turn Dark Shadows into a farce.
Tina
Aug 18, 2012 at 9:59 am
The man needs to read Tom Laughlin’s book, “The 9 Essential Ingredients” before he thinks of touching another script without respecting the original source material.
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