While The Munsters prepare for a television reboot with a highly questionable concept (they'll be struggling to fit in "in hipster Brooklyn"), the creepy and kooky family they shared the television airwaves with back in 1964 – '66, The Addams Family, are getting ready for a reboot of their own.
The latest iteration of THE ADDAMS FAMILY will be an animated film, and Conrad Vernon, who co-directed last year's SAUSAGE PARTY, has signed on to take the helm.
The Addams family began their macabre life as single-panel gag illustrations by cartoonist Charles Addams that appeared primarily in the New Yorker. Their popularity led to the Addams Family becoming a television show in the 1960s that starred John Astin and Carolyn Jones as well as an animated series in the early 1970s. The family enjoyed a revival in the early 1990s with a pair of movies that starred Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, and Christina Ricci.
The premise revolved around Gomez and Morticia Addams and their children named Wednesday and Pugsley. Also in the household were Uncle Fester and Grandmama, plus their imposing butler Lurch, the disembodied hand Thing, and Cousin Itt.
Pamela Pettler has written the screenplay for the new film, with Matt Lieberman performing a polish on the script.
Vernon will be producing THE ADDAMS FAMILY with Gail Berman and Alex Schwartz of the Jackal Group. Andrew Mittman and Kevin Miserocchi serve as executive producers, with Tabitha Schick overseeing the project for MGM.
The idea of an animated ADDAMS FAMILY has been kicking around for several years – since at least 2010, when we shared the rumor that Tim Burton was interested in directing such a project.
It's moving forward now, and I'm eager to see how it will turn out. I grew up on both the '60s series and the '90s movies, so it will be good to see the family back in action.