Robert Zemeckis is wasting no time getting his next 3D project off the ground. The remake of the Beatles’ animated film, “Yellow Submarine,” has already been announced, but now the high-concept director has also found his cast. The conventional wisdom must be who need names with motion-capture as none of the cast can be considered stars.
The cast will essentially be led by one “name,” Cary Elwes, who will play George Harrison followed by lesser known British actors like Dean Lennox Kelly (who will play John Lennon), Peter Serafinowicz (who will play McCartney and had a pretty amusing turn in the otherwise mirthless “Couple’s Retreat”) and Adam Campbell (as the perennially-jovial Ringo Starr). Or at least all these guys are in negotiations, but surely they’re not going to quibble. This is all four actors’ biggest gig in a while.
No production date is set, but mo-cap films generally take a relatively long time (see Spielberg and Jackson’s “Tintin” which will basically take two years to get to the screen with shooting and then effects).
Does that cast dazzle you? Does a cast matter with mo-cap? We’ll admit this project leaves us cold and we don’t have a copious desire to see a Robert Zemeckis Beatles film with creepy-looking humanoid 3D renderings of the beloved Fab Four, but more power to him we suppose. We hope the super controlling Yoko at least saw “A Christmas Carol” in 3D with Jim Carrey before she agreed to this.
That film has grossed almost $137 million domestically and while it’s a strong number, it surely is far below studio projections considering how other 3D films, “Up,” “Ice Age 3,” and “Avatar” outgrossed it by at least $50 million (and well over a $100 in the case of “Up” and “Avatar”)
Zemeckis will have song rights which is a pretty good coup too; Yoko’s grip is tight but has been softening over the years. After all, if she’ll let the Beatles appear in Rock Band, we suppose the 3D mo-cap of Zemeckis’ redo can’t be much different to her (or anyone else for that matter).