The most creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky family on the block are back to frighten and charm a new generation. MGM is set to release a new ‘Addams Family’ animated movie and have enlisted an all-star voice cast to bring these oddities to life (or is that afterlife?). ‘Star Wars” Oscar Isaac will voice patriarch Gomez, while Charlize Theron (‘The Fate of the Furious’) plays his seductive wife Morticia. Chloë Grace Moretz (‘Kick-Ass’) and Finn Wolfhard (‘It’, ‘Stranger Things’) will voice their children Wednesday and Puglsey, respectively. The rest of their family will be brought to animated life by Bette Midler as Grandmama and Nick Kroll (‘Big Mouth’) as Uncle Fester. Their stoic butler Lurch has not yet been cast, but Academy Award winner Allison Janney (‘I, Tonya’) will play their sneaky neighbor Margaux Needler.
Kroll also worked on the adult animated movie ‘Sausage Party’ as the character Douche (oddly, the same name as his recurring character on ‘Parks and Recreation’), and the directors of that movie, Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan, are tackling ‘The Addams Family’ which, it must be assumed, will be considerably tamer.
‘The Addams Family’ started as a comic strip by Charles Addams, which appeared in The New Yorker. It has been adapted numerous time in various forms, including the classic black and white TV series which aired from 1964-66 (and has been running in syndication ever since), a cartoon in the ’70s (including two guest appearance on ‘Scooby-Doo’), two hit movies– ‘The Addams Family’ in 1991 and ‘Addams Family Values’ in 1993 which earned a combined $240 million worldwide and led to another new cartoon series and a lackluster straight-to-video movie, ‘Addams Family Reunion’. In the theatrical movies, Raul Julia played Gomez, Anjelica Huston played Morticia and Christopher Lloyd played Uncle Fester. The films basically launched the career of Christina Ricci, who played Wednesday and went on to a lengthy career largely composed of other Wednesday-like characters.
In 2010, a stage musical starring Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia hit Broadway. It was later also mounted in London.
In a statement, Vernon said:
“Greg and I have always been a fan of the Addams Family in past versions, so when we set out to make this movie, we were excited to do something new. With that in mind, I drew from the brilliantly original Charles Addams New Yorker cartoons for the look of the film and decided to tell the story of how Gomez and Morticia meet, find their house and start their family. This unique approach is what drew me in to direct the film. The reimagining also extends to the stellar cast we’ve put together who will each bring their own spin to our film that will appeal to longtime fans of the Addams and introduce them to a new generation.”
Jonathan Glickman, president of MGM Motion Pictures Group stated:
“Conrad and Greg are masters of animation with the keen ability to create something both kids and their parents will enjoy for different reasons. Adding to that a world class caliber of talent with Oscar, Charlize, Chloë, Finn, Nick, Bette and Allison – we can’t wait to bring their fresh and modern take on The Addams Family to the worldwide audience.”
‘The Addams Family’ will open on October 11, 2019.
Source: Deadline
