It was a simple idea that became famous worldwide – take the day to day lives of an average American family and transplant them to the Stone Age. A world where a pterodactyl acts as a record player and you drive with your feet – quite literally. Now producing partners Will Ferrell and Adam McKay (STEPBROTHERS and the upcoming BORDER GUARDS) have been announced as executive producers of a brand new animated film of THE FLINTSTONES.
The 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon took the TV ratings by storm but has fared less well at the cinema, ironic given the show’s title sequence features everyone going to the pictures. 1994’s live action FLINTSTONES movie was well-cast, with John Goodman and Elizabeth Perkins as workaday couple Fred and Wilma, but failed to recapture the spirit of the source material. However, it was a box office success so it spawned a minor sequel starring Mark Addy (Atlantis). Ever since then producers have been roaming about like an addled stegosaurus wondering how to bring the franchise back to stay.
Family Guy‘s Seth MacFarlane attempted a revival but this was ditched last year following script problems. The only competition as such for a new film comes in the form of a FLINTSTONES/WWE crossover project that is headed to a shelf near you soon, so the backing of comedy brontosauruses Ferrell and McKay could push this reworking into the big leagues. Anyone who noticed screen smash THE CROODS and thought “That looks a little familiar” may also spot a compelling reason for the antics of Fred Flintstone to make their way back to the multiplex.
Gary Sanchez Productions, comprising of Ferrell, McKay and the movie’s writer Chris Henchy (THE CAMPAIGN), will take us back to Bedrock in association with Warner Bros. The project is in development, so won’t arrive anytime soon, but once the egg hatches it will be ready to take a big chunk out of the box office.
Personally I feel the team at Sanchez have got it right going back to the series animated roots. Characters such as Dino the domesticated dinosaur and Scooby Doo (another Hanna-Barbera translation) were created with CGI and look like cartoons anyway, so why bother hiring actors in the first place? It isn’t known if Ferrell will lend his voice talent to the production but I’d be surprised if he didn’t get involved somewhere on the performance side. As for who could be the new Fred, my money’s on BREAKING BAD’s Dean Norris.
Source: THR
