Shane Acker to direct an animated adaptation of comic Beasts of Burden

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Shane Acker‘s animated movie 9 was actually a suprisingly good movie. I watched it thinking it would be a cool movie for my kids but instead found a dark and moody action movie centered on rag dolls. Very cool if you haven’t seen it. Well, Acker is back and will be directing the adaptation of the Dark Horse comic BEASTS OF BURDEN for Reel FX.

SHREK and CHRONICLES OF NARNIA director Andrew Adamson was previously attached to the project from screenwriter Darren Lamke (JACK THE GIANT KILLER). Now that the project is under Acker, I would expect it to take a darker turn and maybe not be as kid friendly as it could have been under Adamson.

Here’s the plot of the comic:

The Eisner-winning Burden, created by Evan Dorkin (Milk & Cheese) and Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother), is set in a community called Burden Hill where a series of supernatural events occur, causing a gang of dogs (and one cat) to team up in order to keep their owners and the town’s residents

The comic has won numerous awards and seems like it would be a good fit for a PARANORMAN take on the supernatural. It remains to be seen if they will take the traditional talking animal route or do something unique for the project. Whichever way this one goes, count me interested.