MGM, fresh off news that they’ll be adapting the not-so-fresh kid’s book franchise Where’s Waldo?, is in talks with low-budget horror auteur Adam Green (the filmmaker behind little-seen schlockers like Hatchet and Frozen) to produce Killer Pizza, an adaptation of the quite-lesser-known-than-Where’s Waldo? Greg Taylor book of the same name. Taylor’s book tells of a 14-year old boy and his job at a pizzeria that’s really a front for a monster-hunting business [Deadline].
Chris Columbus and his 1492 Entertainment banner will produce the film which will be decidedly aimed towards families, a la The Goonies and, more recently, Super 8. This marks another property MGM is jumping into (don’t forget Eminem’s Southpaw), marking a pronounced comeback into the business of making movies by the company that was once as powerful as the lion that roars in its bumper, before falling into bankruptcy.
That said, Green has yet to prove himself in any real way, commercially or critically. Outside of venues like Comic-Con and independent cinemas, the name Adam Green means nothing. But then, putting a Hollywood production film into the hands of a creative mind like Green feels a vote of confidence by the newly-minted studio.
What do you think of this project? Is it a good fit for Green’s coming-out party?