It was reported at the start of the year that rumours were emerging that Disney and Tim Burton were proposing a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, focusing on the evil queen Maleficent, and that the new project would get off the ground if Alice in Wonderland proved to be a hit.
We all know how Alice has done at the box office, and with the DVD out in a matter of weeks Disney and Burton have gained a great deal of momentum and the news from THR today that the writer of The Lion King and Alice in Wonderland, Linda Woolverton, has signed on to write the Sleeping Beauty/Maleficent script is a clear indication that the film is rolling into production.
There’s no telling which of the forthcoming productions Tim Burton is working on will be next, though he was talking up Dark Shadows at the Alice Press Conference, but will the lure of Disney’s project, and the chance to reunite with Woolverton, hold any sway?
With the new stop motion 3D Frankenweenie looking like it will start soon, and the many stories of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter being one of Burton’s next producing ventures there’s no telling if he’ll step back into the fairy tale world with Disney. And while Woolverton has done some great work, the script for Alice wasn’t a highlight of the film for me, perhaps taking the Sleeping Beauty tale and shifting the point of view to the antagonistic will yield a more engaging prospect.
