Tim Burton to Direct Animated 3D ADDAMS FAMILY Film

Deadline.com is reporting that Tim Burton has his eye on The Addams Family for his next animated 3D project, following the success of Alice In Wonderland, now playing.

Writes Deadline.com: "[Burton] will direct a stop-motion animated film based on Charles Addams' original ghoulish cartoon drawings of The Addams Family. Illumination Entertainment, the Universal-based family film unit headed by Chris Meledandri, has acquired the underlying rights of the Addams drawings, once a staple of The New Yorker magazine." Burton's film, like the Broadway in previews musical starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, will be inspired by these original drawings and will be unrelated to the previous film and television imaginings of the famous goth family.

The production is currently seeking a writer. The film will be produced by Meladandri, and Kevin Miserocchi of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation. Burton's additional animated features include Corpse Bride, and Frankenweenie.  He additionally wrote and produced The Nightmare Before Christmas and produced 9.

On Broadway, The Addams Family is currently in previews at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Opening on April 8, 2010, The Addams Family is based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams. The Addams Family has a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (librettists of the 2006 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Jersey Boys), music and lyrics by Drama Desk Award winner Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party), direction and design by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch (Shockheaded Peter, The Metropolitan Opera's Satyagraga), choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Next to Normal, Jersey Boys) and creative consulting by Jerry Zaks.

Starring two-time Tony Award winners Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as Gomez and Morticia, The Addams Family also features two-time Tony Award nominee Terrence Mann as Mal Beineke, two-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello as Alice Beineke, two-time Tony Award nominee Kevin Chamberlin as Uncle Fester, Jackie Hoffman as Grandma, Zachary James as Lurch, Wesley Taylor as Lucas Beineke, Krysta Rodriguez as Wednesday Addams, and Adam Riegler as Pugsley.

The Addams Family features an original story. It's every parent's nightmare. Your little girl has suddenly become a young woman, and what's worse, has fallen deliriously in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family. Yes, Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has a "normal" boyfriend, and for parents Gomez and Morticia, it's a shocking development that turns the Addams house upside down when they are forced to host a dinner for the young man and his parents.

For tickets and more information on The Addams Family, visit www.theaddamsfamilymusical.com.