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Taika Waititi to Co-Direct Michael Jackson Movie 'Bubbles'

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From the Hollywood reporter:

Taika Waititi has signed on to co-direct Bubbles, a Blacklist script detailing the life of the late Michael Jackson from the perspective of his beloved pet monkey. Given the centrality of Michael Jackson to Waititi's 2010 award-winning film Boy (the young lead character was obsessed with Michael Jackson), it seems like a strong match.

Isaac Adamson penned the script, an untraditional & fantastical biopic, which was one of the top titles on the 2015 Black List. The film is expected to resemble Charlie Kaufman's 2015 film Anomalisa, utilizing stop-animation technology, specifically their form of replacement animation, which combined 3D printing and puppetry. Anomalisa was the first animated film to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. It was also nominated for best animated picture at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes.

CAA will handle U.S. rights, and Rocket Science will handle international rights. In response to the hiring of Waititi,Thorsten Schumacher, the head of newly-formed Rocket Science, said that the addition of Waititi's "warmth, empathy and humor" to the project has allowed "all the pieces fit perfectly" together. Waititi just finished filming Thor: Ragnarok in New Zealand with Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, and Cate Blanchett.
Waititi said of the film's focus: "It's an idea that fascinates me and one I want to develop further. Most people know I'm a huge Michael Jackson fan, so the main thing for me is to make sure it's respectful of him and his legacy. I'm not interested in making a biopic; I want to focus on telling a story that blends fact and fantasy, about an animal trying to make sense of the world. This film is not about Michael Jackson because that's not a story for me to tell - or a story I'd be comfortable telling - it's about a chimpanzee's fascinating journey through the complex jungle of human life. I think animation is the only way to approach a story like this."

While Waititi brings a certain vision to Bubbles, Gustafson's previous work as animation director on Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox suggests he will provide a technical expertise. Up next, Gustafson will be producing Guillermo del Toro's stop-motion animation Pinocchio. In regards to the unique angle of Bubbles, Gustafson said, "Bubbles, the chimp, had a front row seat and a truly unique perspective on the pop culture phenomenon of Michael Jackson. I'm excited to have the opportunity to work with this great team to bring his story to life. Plus it's a monkey. Who doesn't love a monkey?"

Bubbles will be produced by Andrew and Walter Kortschak of End Cue, and Dan Harmon's Starburns Industries. Isaac Adamson and Lee Stobby will serve as executive producers.

Waititi is represented by CAA, Morris Yorn, and Dan Halsted of Manage-ment. while Gustafson is represented by his manager Peter McHugh of The Gotham Group. Adamson is represented by CAA, manager Lee Stobby, and lawyer Michael Schenkman. Starburns is represented by CAA.
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May 11, 2018 by Alex Ritman The Hollywood Reporter
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Taika Waititi stopped by the Croisette on Friday to discuss several of his upcoming projects, while describing his time on undoubtedly the biggest film of his career to date.

Speaking in Cannes at the International Film Finance Forum presented by Winston Baker, together with actor-turned-director Paul Dano, the New Zealand filmmaker talked about his dark WWII comedy Jojo Rabbit, which stars Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell and is due to start shooting in two weeks in Europe.

“It’s really upbeat fun, it’s a heartfelt, dark comedy, I didn’t even have to pitch it to Fox Searchlight,” he said of the satire, in which a young boy longs to be a part of the Hitler Youth and whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler. “It’s really hard to pitch WWII movies, and then you say, don’t worry, it’s going to be funny.”

Further down the line, Waititi has his stop-motion animation film Bubbles, which Netflix acquired in Cannes last year.

“I always wanted to do a side project while making other films,” he said of the film. “It’s the fascinating and hilarious story of Michael Jackson’s chimpanzee, the life and times. We’re all fascinated by Michael, but what about the characters on the periphery? No one ever asks about Bubbles and how he felt during that time.”

Waititi’s and Jemaine Clement’s hit mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows was recently greenlit for a TV series by FX, with Kayvan Novak (Danger Mouse), Matt Berry (Toast of London), Natasia Demetriou (Year Friends) and Harvey Guillen (The Thundermans) set to star.

However, Waititi suggested that his involvement in the show might be limited, and confirmed that he wouldn’t be returning to appear in front of the camera.

“It’s the same universe, but different characters,” he said. “It’s like a documentary crew in New York found this new bunch of vampires.”

But it was Thor: Ragnarok, his hugely successful first trip into Marvel’s superhero universe last year, that Waititi was able to elaborate on.

“Thor was such huge comfort shift, and something I was not prepared for at all,” he said. “But with my smaller films, I wasn’t feeling very challenged; I wasn’t feeling out of my comfort zone.”

Despite Thor: Ragnorok being Waititi’s first studio film, he said he was surprised by how much freedom he was given.

“There are jokes in there that have no business being in that movie,” he said. “But Kevin Feige just said, 'Yeah, more of that stuff.' It was very strange what they were encouraging me to do.”

Ragnorok shot in Australia, which Waititi said was too far away to have any studio executives visit and interfere.

“I was always looking over my shoulders wondering why they’re letting us do this,” he said. “Then I realized they could change anything in post.”
 
Sooooooo is this supposed to be insulting to Michael's legacy or something positive about Michael's legacy and his love of animals?
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I like liked Thor: Ragnarok. He is a great director. I just hope that the movie will be respectful.
 
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