For what would be his first significant live-action television series, Tim Burton is looking to get creepy and kooky with The Addams Family. Word of the project hails from Deadline, who says the seriously spooky filmmaker is negotiating to executive produce and possibly direct all episodes of a new take on the classic franchise. Serving as head writers on the project are Smallville developers/executive producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who will also showrun in addition to executive producing with Burton.
MGM TV, who holds the underlying rights to The Addams Family IP, paid for the series to be developed. Naturally, there are now multiple buyers looking to get their spindly fingers on the series, including Netflix, who sources say is the leader of the pack at this time.
While the plot has yet to be confirmed, it's been reported that the series will be set in present times, with the story being told from the perspective of Wednesday Addams and what the world would look like to her in 2020.
Created by American cartoonist Charles Addams in 1938, The Addams Family originally included Gomez and Morticia Addams, their children Wednesday and Pugsley, extended family members Uncle Fester, Grandmama, their undead butler Lurch, and Pugsley's pet octopus Aristotle. Sometime later, the characters Thing (a disembodied hand), and Gomez's Cousin It were introduced to fans of the macabre family.
During its storied history, The Addams Family has had several big-screen adaptations, both of the live-action variety as well as animated. It's also had two live-action television series, which remain a mainstay of classic TV to this very day.
For the uninitiated, The Addams Family is a tight-knit family unit that isn't afraid to embrace the darker aspects of their unique lives. They live in a quasi-enchanted manor filled with many dangers, delightful traps, and deranged delicacies that would turn the stomachs of anyone not on their level. While harmless in many regards, the Addams family are often looked upon as deviants and a nuisance for those who fail to understand their mysterious and spooky way of life.
Recently it was announced that a sequel to MGM's animated Addams Family film is set for an October 2021 debut. Co-directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, the 2019 animated film finds the eccentrically macabre family moving to a bland suburb where Wednesday Addams' friendship with the daughter of a hostile and conformist local reality show host exacerbates conflict between the families. While the film makes a few head-scratching choices along the way, THE ADDAMS FAMILY excels at presenting its title characters as creepy and kooky individuals who lead extraordinary lives. The film is packed with callbacks to the original live-action series as well as the beloved films presented lovingly by Barry Sonnenfeld.
Lending their voices to the animated original are Golden Globe winner Oscar Isaac as Gomez Addams, Academy Award winner Charlize Theron as Morticia Addams, Chloë Grace Moretz as Wednesday Addams, Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley Addams, Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester, Bette Midler as Grandma, Elsie Fisher as Margaux, and Academy Award winner Allison Janney as the family’s arch-nemesis Margaux Needler.
We'll be sure to bring you more details as Tim Burton's The Addams Family project develops.