It would appear that no 70s and 80s franchise is safe from Hollywoods fervour in doing remakes.
The 1983 series ‘Manimal,’ which starred Simon MacCorkindale as Dr. Jonathan Chase who had the unique ability to change his form into pretty much most animals that the budget would allow is to be made into a movie.
According to Deadline Sony Pictures Animation has assigned Jimmy Miller’s Mosaic and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s Gary Sanchez Productions to produce the movie version of the cult series, which was one of the few Glen A. Larson productions to not go to a full season.
Miller, Ferrell, and McKay will produce along with original series co-creator Glen A. Larson, and Key & Peele EPs Jay Martel and Ian Roberts already have been tapped to write.
The original 1983 series starred Simon MacCorkindale as Dr. Jonathan Chase, a dashing and wealthy man raised in Africa who was also “master of the secrets that divide man from animal.” It was cancelled after eight episodes, only to live on in the hearts of a devoted cult fandom.
This movie version of the cult series will reimagine the concept as an action comedy with heavy emphasis on visual effects and animated elements.
As only a casual viewer of the original series, which aired on BBC 1 in the early 80s. All I can say is that doing it as a comedy is a very, very bad idea. The fact is the original played things very, very straight and managed to be far funnier than most average sit coms. But I guess they need another tentpole vehicle for Will Ferell to hang his name on.
Written By: Ian Cullen
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