To be honest, I completely forgot about Tim Burton's BIG EYES starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz. USA Today has a first look at the upcoming biopic featuring Adams as artist Margaret Keane and Christoph Waltz as her husband Walter. The film also stars Johnny Depp as…wait, Depp isn't in this? But this is a Tim Burton movie, right?
Check them out:
Synopsis:
Walter Keane became a national celebrity and talk show fixture in the 1950s after he pioneered the mass production of prints of big-eyed kids, and used his marketing savvy to sell them cheaply in hardware stores and gas stations across the country. Unfortunately, he claimed to be the artist. That role was played by Margaret, his shy wife. She generated the paintings from their basement and Walter's contribution was adding his signature to the bottom. The ruse broke up their marriage, and when she tried to make it known that she authored the paintings, they ended up in a court battle after Walter called her crazy. The case culminated in a dramatic courtroom showdown. The judge put up two easels, side by side, and challenged each of them to start painting. He begged off, blaming a shoulder injury, while she dashed off her familiar big-eyed creation.
All kidding aside, I'm actually quite interested in seeing BIG EYES. Screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski are great when it comes to odd biopics (they also wrote the scripts for Tim Burton's ED WOOD, THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT, and MAN ON THE MOON), and besides Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams, BIG EYES also stars (for real this time) Krysten Ritter, Danny Huston, Terrence Stamp and Jason Schwartzman.
BIG EYES will be a smaller filmed compared to Tim Burton's most recent CGI-filled movies, and that's a good thing in my opinion. Like many fans of Burton's early work, I've been very critical of his films as of late, however I haven't given up on him, and I think BIG EYES could be a fantastic opportunity to prove he's still a talented and unique director.
BIG EYES will be in theaters on December 25, 2014.