Tim Burton's (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Dumbo) next project has been announced, and the legendary filmmaker is set to develop a remake of '50s sci-fi horror cult classic Attack of the 50-Foot Woman.
Burton will helm the project, with Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn penning the script.
The original movie was made for just $88,000 USD back in 1958, and followed troubled heiress Nancy Archer, whose life is drastically altered after a close encounter with a UFO. Nancy is unable to find anyone who believes her outlandish story, including her philandering husband Harry and his mistress, Honey, but things soon change when she begins to grow... and grow!
The movie proved to be a surprise hit, and its iconic poster art has endured as one of the most recognizable one-sheets of the era. Attack of the 50-Foot Woman was already remade back in 1993, with Christopher Guest directing and Daryl Hannah starring as Nancy. This version put a more feminist slant on the material, but was a notorious flop, and critics were not kind (it sits at 30% on Rotten Tomatoes).
Burton is also set to produce with Andrew Mittman and Tommy Harper. Kai Dolbashian will executive produce.
The Batman helmer is undoubtedly a perfect fit for this type of movie, having previously put his own stamp on '50s sci-fi classics with 1996's Mars Attacks, and bringing the story of Plan 9 From Outer Space filmmaker Ed Wood to the screen in 1994. He also directed a remake of Planet of the Apes back in 2001.
Flynn adapted her own novel, Gone Girl, for David Fincher's acclaimed movie, and also penned the script for Emmy-nominated HBO limited series, Sharp Objects. A new take on her other bestseller, Dark Places, is in the works at HBO, and she will serve as co-showrunner and head writer on the show.
"Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is a 1958 independently made American science fiction horror film directed by Nathan H. Juran (credited as Nathan Hertz) and starring Allison Hayes, William Hudson and Yvette Vickers. It was produced by Bernard Woolner. The screenplay was written by Mark Hanna, and the original music score was composed by Ronald Stein. The film was distributed in the United States by Allied Artists as a double feature with War of the Satellites. The Allied Artists television version runs 75 minutes instead of 66, including a long printed crawl at the beginning and end, repeated sequences, and hold-frames designed to optically lengthen the film's running time. The film's storyline concerns the plight of a wealthy heiress whose close encounter with an enormous alien in his round spacecraft causes her to grow into a giantess, complicating her marriage which is already troubled by a philandering husband."