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Where The Wild Things Are
Interview with Catherine O'Hara
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Pedigree: A classic book adapted by the director of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. Estimated budget: $80 million. Predicted box office: $200 million (US gross), $300 million (worldwide).
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Spike Jonze, James Gandolfini, Forest Whitaker... Doesn't sound like a children's movie, does it? If Where The Wild Things Are delivers on all its promise, then this should be a children's movie like no other and one of the most interesting films of next year, full stop.
For his first stab at a screenplay, Dave Eggers, the none-more-cult author of A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius, has chosen to adapt Maurice Sendak's classic 1963 children's book about a young boy named Max who ventures to a far-off land where the titular Wild Things (a bunch of furry monsters) live and revere him as their king. With the director of Being John Malkovich shouting the orders, this could be mad in a brilliant way.
"It was the most extraordinary experience," says Catherine O'Hara, who voices one of the Wild Things, along with Gandolfini and Whitaker. "You won't see us on screen, but we acted everything out like you would on any other movie." At this point, she mimics the movement of a Wild Thing, suggested something akin to a bear cartoonishly trying to sneak up behind someone. The monsters will be brought to life using a blend of CG and full-sized Jim Henson Company-created puppet suits, so expect this to have a vibe at once retro and surreally modern.
The film's been shrouded in secrecy since it began production in Australia last June, but a review of a leaked script by New York Magazine said Eggers and Jonze have brilliantly expanded Sendak's slim bedtime read to feature-length. With this team behind it, you can bet on at least one thing: this ain't gonna be dull.
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