The filmmaking career of Brad Bird is a bit of a mixed bag. When he tackles animation, there’s perhaps not a better filmmaker on the planet. But it’s when Bird decides to go live-action that the results…vary. He’s basically one-for-two, with “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” being the strongest non-McQuarrie entry in the franchise and “Tomorrowland” being nothing short of a financial and critical disappointment. But for his next film, he’s hoping to hedge his bets by combining live-action with animation and create a…musical?
In a recent interview with Variety, the “Incredibles 2” director was asked what he was working on next. While he was very short on the details, Bird did shed some light on what the upcoming film will feature – namely, a serious chunk of animation and songs.
“I don’t know anything about musicals,” Bird said, “so I figure I should do this because I’m deathly afraid of it and that sounds like a cool thing.”
He continued by saying that the unnamed feature will also include about 20 minutes of animation, without going into what that animation would mean. Are we looking at a hybrid film, a la “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” or perhaps a film that features scenes done entirely animated? That’s still up in the air.
One other detail that Bird was able to confirm is who the composer is that he’s working on for the music for his musical – Michael Giacchino. As far as film composers working today go, there’s not many that can rival a name like Giacchino. Previously, the two have collaborated on almost all of Bird’s films, including both “Incredibles, “Ratatouille,” ‘Mission: Impossible,’ and “Tomorrowland.” So yeah, it’s not a huge shock that they’re going to do it again on the musical.
There’s nothing else known at this time about the project, but from what we now know, it appears that Bird has something truly interesting up his sleeve for his first film after the superb “Incredibles 2” success.
#Incredibles2 director Brad Bird gives details on his next project, including that it will be a musical #BaftaTeaParty pic.twitter.com/NfucPRpnai
— Variety (@Variety) January 6, 2019