If I were a betting man, it’s not too difficult to guess the next property that Illumination Entertainment will grab and turn into a family-oriented animated blockbuster. The company, run by Chris Meledandri, started off their run with a take on Dr. Seuss‘ Horton Hears a Who and around this time last year gave us their version of The Lorax. Now, with a Cat in the Hat film already in development, as well as a live-action biopic on the author, they’ve set their sights on another Seuss adaptation and one that is perhaps the most well-known of all his works.
According to Variety, they will bring another version of Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! to the screen. Set to be directed by All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 and Balto animator Pete Candeland, Universal Pictures will once again team up with the animation house. If you had a semi-normal childhood, then you’ve seen Chuck Jones‘ 1966 animated version many, many times and this one will also “stay faithful to the book,” unlike some of the material made up for Lorax and Horton.
Writers are still be looked at, but the plan is to get this one in theaters before Cat in the Hat and as for specific story elements, the trade reports all the expected. It will obviously focus on “Cindy Lou Who’s ultimate optimistic attitude and the Grinch’s ultimate pessimitic attitude.” Maybe they can even get Jim Carrey to return after playing the lead in Ron Howard‘s terrifying 2000 live-action version — on second thought, lets nix that now. Check out a snippet from the 1966 film below.
Do you want to see anew version of The Grinch?