SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES was one of the oddities of 1980s family films. This was when children’s films were dark and unpleasant, just look at THE DARK CRYSTAL. Based on the book by Ray Bradbury, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES tells the story of a carnival lead by Mr. Dark (alarm bells ringing), which arrives in small towns and has a sinister motive involving the transferal of souls for dreams. The 1962 book was first adapted by Disney in 1983, which Bradbury also scripted.
Now it will be the turn of ‘Pride & Prejudice & Zombies’ author and DARK SHADOWS screenwriter, Seth Grahame-Smith to take on the classic tale as he takes to the director’s chair for the first time. Seth Grahame-Smith is currently working on a treatment, but the final script will be taken on by another, allowing Grahame-Smith to concentrate on directing.
Discussing the project, Grahame-Smith had this to say:
I have been so crazy about this book and it was such a formative title in my life that I actually wrote a piece on NPR about why it is so important for young males to read. It is a classic coming of age, father-son story about the transition from childhood to adulthood and how kids can’t wait to be adults and adults romanticize their childhoods. I’m not remaking the movie; I want the haunted atmosphere that makes the book so chilling, and I want to reinstate some of the classic scenes from the book that were missing from the ’83 film.
While the script is written by someone else, it will also allow Grahame-Smith to focus on his script for the BEETLEJUICE sequel, which is set to reunite Michael Keaton and Tim Burton. Although I’m a huge BEETLEJUICE fan, I’d much rather see a remake of SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. Although I enjoyed the original, it is certainly a film where improvements can be made. Makes a change from taking a perfect film and just rehashing it.
Source: Deadline
