In what feels like the most obvious pairing of creator and material in the world, Deadline is reporting that director Tim Burton is joining with Smallville executive producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar to bring The Addams Family back to live-action television. Burton will not only executive produce the series, but it appears as if he might direct all the episodes as well. This new iteration doesn’t have a home yet, but distributor MGM is fielding offers from Netflix, among other streamers. This would be Burton’s first venture into directing for television.
Paramount Pictures
The original ’90s Addams Family movies are often mistaken for Burton films, despite Barry Sonnenfeld being the director. Nevertheless, Burton has flirted with the creepy and kooky family on more than one occasion. He received an offer to direct the original 1991 film, but he turned it down to do Batman Returns. In 2010, he began to develop a stop-motion animated Addams Family movie, similar to The Nightmare Before Christmas. But sadly, that never came to fruition. However, it looks like Burton will finally have his chance to show the world his take on Gomez, Morticia, and the rest.
Now, the real question on all our minds is who will play the iconic characters? The recent CGI animated film had a terrific voice cast that would actually be perfect to play those roles in live-action. We could totally see Oscar Isaac as Gomez, and a Gothed-out Charlize Theron as Morticia. However, those two are big A-list movie stars and may not commit to a TV series right now. Although one can dream!
MGM
Lin Manuel-Miranda would be a great Gomez too, as would Pedro Pascal. (Although, he’s kinda busy these days). As for Morticia, great fan casting would be none other than the original Wednesday Addams, Christina Ricci. She and Burton worked together in Sleepy Hollow. Maybe it’s time for a reunion? Just be sure to bring back Snoop Dogg as Cousin Itt. He voiced him in the most recent animated version, and we think this perfect casting is due for a live-action crossover. They better not dare to get rid of the iconic theme song though—even if it will probably be a Danny Elfman version now. Some things are just sacred.
Featured Image: Paramount Pictures
