File this under: Projects You Forgot About. Way back in 2011, it emerged that Tim Burton and Josh Brolin were teaming on a new big screen version of Victor Hugo‘s “The Hunchback Of Notre Dame,” with a script from Kieran and Michele Mulroney, the writing pair behind the upcoming “Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows.” And then basically nothing was heard about it again. Burton has since directed “Dark Shadows” and “Frankenweenie,” while we’re not even going to list the movies Brolin has been in, but it looks like the project is kicking back to life.
Variety reveals that the very unlikely choice of Zhang Yimou has been tapped by Warner Bros. to direct the movie that’s not being called “Quasimodo.” Brolin is still attached in the title role, where he’ll play the bellringer who saves a girl framed for murder. Presumably with more explosions. And Yimou is no stranger to spectacle, with movies like “Hero” and “House Of Flying Daggers” under this belt, but it will be his first bonafide Hollywood movie. Though perhaps he’s always been inching in this direction, with his last effort being the drama “The Flowers Of War” starring Christian Bale.
So, it’s probably one of the more interesting developments you’ll hear of today, and we’ve got to admit that we’re cautiously curious. It’s not every day that a Cannes prize-winning filmmaker decides to make a blockbuster.