Michael Keaton and Tim Burton haven't collaborated since Batman Returns, but they've been looking for opportunities for a while now, including on a potential Beetlejuice sequel. But even before that, it appears they have found an outlet, with Keaton in talks to play the villain in Burton's live-action Dumbo.
Burton has been busy casting this latest Disney conversion job from its cartoon catalogue. Eva Green and Danny DeVito are in place and Colin Farrell is in talks to co-star. DeVito is playing the kindly owner of a small circus outfit home to Dumbo and his mother, while Green will be a French trapeze artist.
If he does make a deal, Keaton will be Vandemere, the owner of a much bigger, less friendly big top who sees Dumbo as something he can exploit. Boo! Hiss! Etc. Ehren Kruger wrote the script for the new movie, and Burton should be rolling the cameras this year.
It would mark another villainous role for Keaton, following this year's Spider-Man: Homecoming, in which he plays Adrian Toomes, AKA The Vulture. The new film will be out on 7 July.