Here's something you don't see every day – Dimension Films, the company we normally associate with Grindhouse, horror fare and comic book adaptations from the heavier end of the scale ala Sin City, have picked up a more family-friendly comedy in Runt, a freshly pitched idea from Wild Hogs director Walter Becker. It's a perfectly understandable move on the part of the film company, given the box office success the director is currently enjoying in the U.S.
Runt will be co-written by Becker (also director and executive producer) and previous collaborator David Gallagher. It's been dubbed a 'high-concept comedy', focising on twin brothers who are absolute diametric opposites. "But wait," we you cry. "Isn't that Twins?" Well it would be if that was as far as it went. This story will focus more on sibling rivalry. A bit like the forthcoming Fred Claus then, but less Christmassy, then?
"I grew up with a brother – I was older, he was born premature," explained Becker. "From day one he had issues with his lungs, and everything was harder for him growing up… we think this has a lot of heartwarming stuff, about accepting your family for who they are and getting past sibling differences."
Nevertheless, it's a strange, if not completely unprecedented move for Dimension, whose only other forays into this market have been Robert Rodriguez's softer fare, including the Spy Kids franchise and The Adventures Of Shark Boy And Lava Girl In 3D. Beyond that, the closest they've come is Bad Santa. Still, good luck to 'em – if they can put something of a harder edge on what we've seen so far of Hogs, then we might be getting somewhere.