The popular 2005 stop motion animation film by the master of the weird and fantastic, Tim Burton, Corpse Bride is well known for its macabre design, its moving story, and its total adherence to signature visuals that have come to define Burton’s sensibilities for the past four decades. The film’s popularity has only risen since its initial release, and today, it is considered one of the finest stop-motion animation films of all time. So, is Disney finally about to give us a live-action Corpse Bride Movie?
Corpse Bride takes us into the shoes of a shy young man, Victor Van Dort, who commits a horrendous mistake while practicing his wedding vows in the forest. Inadvertently bringing a deceased woman to life, Victor finds himself married to Emily ‘the Corpse Bride’ while her real-life fiance, Victoria, is left confused and ashamed. Whisked away to the land of the dead by her dead wife, Victor discovers what really happened to Emily and decides to right the wrongs as he prepares to marry his real life fiancée.
Corpse Bride’s real power lies in its folktale roots; immortalizing a story that remains resonant in every age. Thus, it was only a matter of time before the film’s fans and lovers would clamour for a live-action version of the story after seeing other animated films successfully given the same treatment.
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With original stories running dry, live-action reimaginings have become all the hoopla today as Disney and other studios successfully lead the charge in this realm for the past two decades. So far, both Burton and Warner Bros have resisted the urge to give Corpse Bride the same treatment. But the question remains, if Warner Bros were to move forward with a live-action Corpse Bride, how would they choose to do so?
First, Warner Bros and Laika might contact the brains behind the original Corpse Bride to redo it for live action. After all, this was always Burton’s baby, and there is no one suited better than him if a live-action retelling was to be done. Burton has only ventured into animation a couple of times in his entire career, but whenever he has done so, the results have been spectacular (A Nightmare Before Christmas and Frankenweenie).
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Corpse Bride needs the macabre Burton design in live action (made popular by his Sleepy Hollow and Beetlejuice outings), and the film’s unique blend of horror and comedy is one that only a handful of directors can pull off. In addition, the Corpse Bride voice cast is packed to the brim with A-listers and frequent Burton collaborators who can seamlessly carry over to the live-action version as well, if they were given the chance to do so.
Live Action Corpse Bride Movie
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Two, Laika and Warner Bros could choose to do Corpse Bride without Burton if he isn't interested. Burton can absolutely be an integral part of the project as producer, and there have been instances where Burton has been so hands-on on a film without directing it that it looks and feels like a Burton feature (The Nightmare Before Christmas and Alice in Wonderland 2).
So a live-action Corpse Bride can work even if Burton doesn’t want to do all the heavy lifting himself. Burton recently did Beetlejuice 2, more than thirty years after the first one, shows he can deliver great sequels to his projects if he chooses to do so. If Warner and Laika can't make it work, perhaps Netflix could pick this project up. The reason we say this is because Burton and Netflix have already turned their Addams Family spinoff series ‘Wednesday’ into a colossal success.
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Although there are no indications that this film is, in any way, real, it has not stopped fans from fantasizing about what their favourite characters might look like. Frequent Burton collaborator Jenna Ortega has been cast in the role of Emily the Corpse Bride, while fans think teen heartthrob Timothée Chalamet should be Victor Van Dort. However, a closer look at the voice cast suggests that they can effortlessly transition to the live-action film as well.
Live Action Corpse Bride Movie
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Both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are no strangers to Burton films and are still major box office draws. Considering Depp’s total domination of film in the 2000s and 2010s, it remains a major question as to why Burton and the studio never tried to make a live-action Corpse Bride during this time, when it would have been an unabashed box office success.
Live Action Corpse Bride Movie
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Made on a tight budget of around $40 million, the 2005 Corpse Bride was a box office success as it grossed close to $120 million in theatres. With millions more in home media and streaming, it can be considered a definitive home run. Although the subject of the film is a little more niche and macabre than most animated features, there remains considerable audience interest to warrant a live-action version of the story.
The easiest comparison here can be made with Disney, whose quest to turn its animated hits into live-action features has been a monumental success for the most part. The Lion King and Aladdin redos both made more than a billion dollars, and recently, Universal also found significant success in this realm when it turned its animated How to Train Your Dragon into a live-action feature. Therefore, a live-action Corpse Bride movie absolutely makes sense from a fiscal perspective as well.
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With all said and done, a live-action Corpse Bride movie is not in the works in any official capacity, but if the powers behind the curtain were to do so, it would be a glorious film nonetheless. It is to be noted that there is a reason that studios have been hesitant to proceed with a live-action Corpse Bride; the colors, aesthetics, and larger-than-life feeling of stop motion animation cannot truly be translated to the big screen without considerably cheapening the overall visual aesthetic. However, if someone were to do a good enough job in this regard, it would undoubtedly be Burton.
Live Action Corpse Bride Movie
