Last month, things took a bleak turn for Henry Selick’s next planned stop-motion animation, as Disney announced it was shutting down development on the Coraline director’s project. But there may yet be good news, as Thompson On Hollywood reports that Selick’s old pals over at Laika are now in talks to take it on instead.
Though Disney reportedly decided not to go ahead with the film – and take a $50 million write off as it had already been in development – because it was a little too dark for their tastes, Laika feels like a better fit all round.
Selick worked there as supervising director and made Coraline for the company, which launched it as a force in animation. Though Selick then moved to open his own studio, Cinderbiter (with the help of Pixar), it seems the movie might finally get made thanks to his previous connections.
So far, little is known about the movie, which was once titled ShadeMaker. Apparently it’ll be a surreal story about brothers and takes place partly in New York. We just hope it actually gets made – more Selick in the world is a good thing.