Is 'Beasts Of Burden' Finally On Its Way To The Big Screen?

 

Independent comic companies are a plentiful bunch, but there are a few of the so called 'smaller' companies that are putting out tons of great material to compete with Marvel & DC. Image is riding high with The Walking Dead, which helps fund a plethora of their other creator owned books. Dark Horse is the other major player in the second wave of comic publishers. They have a monster property in Hellboy, and they use that main character to drive most of the titles they offer. Due to Hellboy's horror/supernatural influences, Dark Horse tends to dabble into this area more often then not. One of the cooler titles that they have come out with is 'Beasts of Burden, which is a title that appeared in a bunch of 'Dark Horse Presents...' collections and a mini series of its very own, as well as a cross over one shot with Hellboy. The base of the story is a group of five dogs and a cat who investigate paranormal activity in the town of Burden Hill. The book is extremely well written by Evan Dorkin and drawn by Jill Thompson, and it is a lot of fun. Now it is possibly getting the big screen treatment from Shane Acker, the director of the the underrated CGI/animated movie '9'...

Check out more from the official press release after the jump...

Acker is very talented and I am interested on his approach to Beast of Burden. He plans on going with the animated approach to this one, and I think that is great. A CGI/human hybrid would only result in a Beverly Hills Chihuahua & Dogs and Cats mockery of a movie rather than something potentially cool like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It is also good to see movie companies looking towards smaller publishers like Dark Horse, as well as comic books that involve more than super heroes. Acker has been working with Guillermo Del Torro on an animated feature, so that makes me feel like the guy has some potential cause Del Torro doesn't just work with anybody. I can't wait to see how this one pans out. Since this is an animated feature I would assume that this one is 2 to 3 years off... so for the time being click here to order the Beast of Burden Collected Edition and enjoy the press release announcing the details below....

The project is an animated adventure about the baffling behavior (tail chasing, barking at “nothing” at all) of our favorite four-legged friends. In the charming town of Burden Hill, there might be more to these animal antics than meets the eye. The town is inhabited by the supernatural, and when its paranormal activity becomes even more abnormal than usual, it’s up to a group of fearless canines called the Watch Dogs to protect its citizens – and humanity – from the mysterious things that go “bump” in the night.

Here’s the rest of the relevant portions of the press release:

Acker is the latest filmmaker Reel FX has attracted to its growing animation slate, which already includes the Day of the Dead-themed project, The Book of Life (Guillermo del Toro producing/Jorge Gutierrez directing), which will be released in theaters by Fox Animation on October 10, 2014; and Turkeys (Jimmy Hayward directing, starring Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson), which will be released in theaters on November 14, 2014 by Relativity Media.

Reel FX recently announced that Warner, the Academy Award-winning producer of the animated blockbusters Shrek, Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third, had joined the growing movie studio as President of Animation.

Warner notes, “Reel FX is continuing to partner with some of the leading filmmakers in animation. Shane is an immense talent and will bring his fresh vision and approach to this adaptation of ‘Beasts of Burden.’”

Says Acker, “It’s a pleasure to be working with such accomplished producers and filmmakers on this incredible project. There is a real independent spirit at Reel FX — the studio is full of energy and fresh ideas — which is necessary to bring this unique story to life.”

Thanks to /Film for making my day...