Nobody should be surprised, but it looks as though Warner Brothers is currently considering a reboot Tim Burton’s comedy cult-classic, Beetlejuice –  it’s like they’re not even trying anymore. The studio recently signed a two-year deal with the KatzSmith production house and may be floating the film their way. Should that happen, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter author and screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith would likely end up penning the script. I still can’t imagine why they would want to reboot the franchise instead of writing a sequel, or even a prequel — it’s not as if the original wasn’t any good. Besides, it just wouldn’t be the same without Michael Keaton. The man did an amazing job selling the character and delivering a truly memorable performance. We already took Batman from him, do we really need to take Beetlejuice too?

news via collider

I must admit that I’m not exactly a historical fiction buff, but when I heard about Seth Grahame-Smith’s recently released novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, I must admit that the concept piqued my interest. Of course, it wasn’t until I stumbled across this amazing trailer for the novel that I found myself compelled to buy a copy. I’m still in the process of reading it, so I can’t comment too much on the content, aside from my assurance that it isn’t Twilight.

It’s also come to my attention that the book has been licensed for film by none other than Tim Burton. It sounds promising, but after seeing Alice in Wonderland, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t the least bit worried. Still, if it looks anything like this trailer — it probably won’t — I’ll be happy.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as an Associate Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator, as well as the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information check out TimSheehy.com

I haven’t been to NYC’s Museum of Modern Art since their admission price hit a serious $20. (Sure you can get info free Friday evenings courtesy of Target – if you don’t mind standing on line for two hours.) I take that back; I’ve been there once or twice since, but gratis, wearing my fedora with the ‘PRESS’ pass tucked in the brim.

I wore it again the other day for a long overdue visit to MoMA’s Tim Burton retrospective. (It’s been there since November and heading off to Australia April 23). Judging from the crowds packing the exhibit, the show is probably the museum’s biggest moneymaker in a long time (Burton could give Monet a run for his mo-nay) and pulling in a lot of people who previously never even heard of the place.

Some 700 pieces of the guy’s work are on display, everything from his teenage 8mm movies to his high school ‘don’t litter’ poster, Planet of the Apes props, oddball sculptures and just about every macabre doodle the man ever committed to paper. The mob made it impossible to do anything save looking over peoples’ shoulders at every third artwork along the way. A few highlights:

Near the entrance, a dayglo-painted rotating carousel, populated by an assortment of dangling monsters (looking like escapees from an Invader Zim cartoon), accompanied by a Danny Elfman repeating tune…Just inside, a Zim-ish robot constructed of metallic spheres, the top of its head opening and closing…a wall filled with noodly caricatures reminiscent of Steinberg, Searle, Steadman – or Gilbert Shelton…a painting of a patchwork woman (reminiscent of The Nightmare Before Christmas’ Sally) with spirals covering her breasts, enjoying a glass of poisoned wine (hypnotic spirals abound in Burton’s oeuvre)…tentacled, candy-striped trees…a melting gingerbread man hanging from a noose…

The exhibit moves into his professional career: The Black Cauldron character sketches from his brief stint as a Disney animator…a Jack Skellington maquette inside a display case, surrounded by his numerous replacement heads, one for each frame of stop-motion animation…a video alcove screening his bizarro, live action version of Hansel and Gretel, created for the Disney Channel 1983 (it aired once, never to be seen again until now; the kids sprawled on the floor in front of it were enjoying it immensely)…a fully accoutred, life-sized Edward Scissorhands mannequin (his elaborate shears for fingers close enough to relish every tiny detail) lording over an assortment of Batman cowls, clawed Catwoman gloves and Ed Wood’s fluffy angora sweater… and not far from Sleepy Hollow’s larger than life headless horseman, a framed multi-image sketch of Corpse Bride’s uptight Victor losing it and turning a creepy-eyed wild man…

Not too shabby for a sensitive outcast artist growing up in the white bread suburban world of 1960s Burbank (ironically, not all that far from Disney’s and Hanna-Barbera’s animation studios): world fame and a massive MoMA retrospective while the popular kids who sneered at you are probably lucky if they’re pulling down sixty grand a year.

Joe is an occasional animation scripter and freelance NYC writer covering animation and sci-fi/fantasy entertainment. His work has appeared in the NY Daily News, Newsday, the New York Press and, as they used to say on Rocky and Bullwinkle, ‘a host of others.’ He is a regular contributor to the animation industry website awn.com, but it’s much easier to visit joestrike.com to see what he’s been up to lately.

I have to say that one of my bigger disappointments of seeing Avatar wasn’t just the lack of plot in Avatar itself, but the uninspiring trailer for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland which made me heartbroken. Now there’s a chance that the trailer was rushed, and I hope that’s the case because I’m a Burton fanboy and would trust him to get the animation right. Although looking at the above featurette I’m still on the fence.

The first toys for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland film are starting to be announced: Shown above is a Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter Doll for Johnny Depp fans — although at $200 you’ll have to be a hardcore fan. More to my own aesthetic and financial liking are the Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat Kubricks below which are $19 for the pair. Sadly these goodies won’t be out for Christmas, but you can pre-order them for April 2010.

This fall Dark Horse will be bringing out a line of toys based on the 1997 Tim Burton book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories. Shown above is Toxic Boy and below is Oyster Boy, these two go on sale on December 9th and better yet the original sculptures for these figures will go on display at Museum of Modern Art in New York City come November!

But there are more goodies: Below are four sets that go on sale on October 14th — the first includes
Toxic Boy, Mummy Boy, and Penguin Boy:

This set includes Stain Boy Stain Boy, Robot Boy, and The Girl with Many Eyes:

And ouch, this set includes Oyster Boy, Junk Girl, and The Boy with Nails in His Eyes:

Finally this last set has Pin Cushion Queen, Brie Boy, and Staring Girl:

P.S. Here’s the full book online!

As a fanboy I’m against Hollywood remakes for the most part, but if Tim Burton is going to turn the classic 60s horror soap opera Dark Shadows into a film then I’ll gladly approve of the notion:

Tim Burton to Direct ‘Dark Shadows’ Next Summer!

“After LA Weekly dubbed the project dead in the water, there have been a few pieces of news that have given us a glimmer of hope for the Warner Bros. adaptation of Dark Shadows, which originally set Tim Burton to direct with Johnny Depp starring. This week Collider caught up with YES MAN producer Richard D. Zanuck who cleared the air stating that SHADOWS is going to be Tim’s next project after ALICE IN WONDERLAND and they’ll be shooting it next summer in London!”

By the way check out this amazing swinging 60s TV commercial selling toys licensed from Dark Shadows: