Where’s Waldo

Tony Peckham in Final Talks to Rewrite THE TWILIGHT ZONE; Todd Berger Confirmed to Pen WHERE’S WALDO

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: December 1st, 2011 at 8:14 pm

Tony Peckham, the man behind the screenplays for Invictus and Sherlock Holmes, is in final discussions to pen the rewrite for The Twilight Zone. Originally written by Jason Rothenberg (Body Politic), Peckham will tweak the tentpole project for Warner Bros. Variety reports that the studio aims to have one cohesive story that incorporates elements from The Twilight Zone universe. The feature will be directed by Matt Reeves (Let Me In) and produced through Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way.

In other screenwriter news, Todd Berger has been confirmed to pen the recent MGM pick up, Where’s Waldo? Touting a history of written shorts like Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters and The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol, Berger will next tackle the script for the striped traveler. Hit the jump for more.

WHERE’S WALDO? to Become Live-Action Feature Film

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 7th, 2011 at 11:20 am

MGM has picked up the feature film rights to bring the children’s book series Where’s Waldo? to the big screen.  For those unfamiliar with the Where’s Waldo? books, they’re impressively drawn crowd scene where the object is to find Waldo, a lanky gentleman with glasses and a distinctive red-and-white outfit.  The series eventually spawned supporting characters like Wilma, Wendy, Waldo’s dog Woof, and Waldo’s arch-nemesis, Odlaw.  As an adult, I’m confused why a man whose sole purpose in life is to stand around in crowds would need an arch-nemesis.  However, all these elements could make for an entertaining movie.

A Where’s Waldo? film adaptation has been in development for years.  Back in 2004, Nickelodeon Movies had it on their development slate, and a couple years ago Universal and animation studio Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me) were trying to get Waldo on the big screen.  We’ll see if MGM has more success.  Hit the jump for the press release as well as a Werner Herzog impersonator doing a hilarious “reading” of a Where’s Waldo? book.

Exclusive: Producer Chris Meledandri Interview DESPICABLE ME

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: July 9th, 2010 at 5:59 pm

Opening today is Universal’s 3D CGI feature Despicable Me and it features the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Julie Andrews, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, Danny McBride, and Jemaine Clement.  The film is about a villain named Gru (Carell) who has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.  I saw a screening and thought it was a really sweet family film and it should do very well at the box office.

Anyway, I was able to interview producer Chris Meledandri (Ice Age franchise, Robots, Horton Hears a Who!) and we discussed making the movie, how did it change over the course of its development, how did Steve Carell find the voice of Gru and was the studio afraid of him doing an accent, the 3D, and we also talked about his future projects like The Addams Family, The Lorax, Hop, and more.  It’s a great interview so hit the jump to check it out.  It’s time indexed so you can watch the parts you’re interested in:

WHERE’S WALDO? Check The Universal Backlot

by Nicole Pedersen    Posted: June 1st, 2009 at 10:14 pm

Variety is reporting that Universal has won the right to adapt the decades old children’s book series “Where’s Waldo?” into a live action feature film.  The studio will partner with Illumination Entertainment to bring the story of a dude in a striped sweater who is really hard to pick out of a crowd to the big screen – I’m guessing that the irony of building a full-length film around a character that can not be located is lost on the producers.

The striking part of this story is not that a major Hollywood studio is pursuing a familiar children’s property that is devoid of any discernible plot – that description fits all of the Hasbro movie deals that have been brokered over the past year.  No, the weird part of this story is that the rights to “Where’s Waldo?” were apparently won in a fierce bidding war that saw Warner Brothers lose out to Universal in a reported seven figure deal.  Considering that Waldo’s greatest challenge is keeping track of his shoes from one page to the next, that is a pretty outrageous sum of money.

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