Kenneth Branagh to direct live action movie ‘Gargoyles’
The popular 1990s animated TV series ‘Gargoyles’, which defined the childhood of many, has been up for a live-action adaptation for a long while now. Now, Oscar winning actor-director Kenneth Branagh is rumoured to direct a live action movie of ‘Gargoyles’.
As reported by ‘Collider’, the news comes as courtesy of the English actor’s hometown paper of the Belfast Telegraph reported that the director-actor will be at the helm of affairs.
‘Gargoyles’ became a very big pop-culture hit in the 1990s, with attempts of adapting it into a feature film dating all the way back to the late 1990s. However, the attempts didn’t pan out leading to the project going into development hell. It was later brought back into development in 2010 when ‘X-Men’ movie producer Lauren Shuler Donner and ‘Wolverine and The X-Men’ writer Zoe Green began working on a film treatment.
At that time, David Elliot and Paul Lovett, the scribes behind ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra’, were also tasked with penning a new script for the film. However, this attempt also fizzled out.
Back in 2019, acclaimed director Jordan Peele had also previously expressed interest in helming a ‘Gargoyles’ adaptation, but this, too, never came together. Branagh’s attempt appears to be the first significant report that the film may finally escape limbo.
The original series, which starred Keith David, Jonathan Frakes, Ed Asner, Salli Richardson, Marina Sirtis, and Bill Faggerbakke, ran from 1994 to 1997, and featured a clan of Gargoyles led by Goliath. The clan lives in the Scottish Highlands during the 10th Century but ends up frozen for a millennia, eventually getting transported to Manhattan, where they awaken and are forced to adjust to life in modern-day New York City.
Branagh’s attachment to the director’s chair is currently the only information available and that is not particularly clear. Also, no writers or potential cast list along with any release date have been announced.
So, currently it is unclear how far along development is on the project. However, with Hollywood now almost entirely frozen due to WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, it is unlikely that any work on the ‘Gargoyles’ adaptation is going to commence for a while.
Branagh was also reported to have joined the picket lines, as he also stands in solidarity with the strikers. Currently, Kenneth Branagh is scheduled to make an appearance in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming biopic ‘Oppenheimer’ which will release on July 21.
He will be seen as Danish physicist Niels Bohr, who was an important part of the Manhattan Project.