It’s been five years since Tim Burton’s last movie, the live-action Dumbo remake, came out (an subsequently led to him not wanting to work with Disney again), but thankfully he’s making his big cinematic return for the 2024 release schedule. His Beetlejuice sequel arrives in the fall, and thanks to the new poster, we now know it’s officially titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Now, ahead of that flick’s arrival, it’s been revealed that Burton will be remaking a sci-fi classic as his next movie.
Continuing his run at Warner Bros. Pictures, Burton has been tapped by the studio to direct a remake of 1958’s Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. Writer Gillian Flynn of Sharp Objects, Utopia, Gone Girl and Widows fame is penning the script. Per Deadline, Burton will also produce the remake alongside Andrew Mittman and Tommy Harper, and Kai Dolbashian is executive producing.
The original Attack of the 50 Foot Woman was an independent movie that was distributed by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation as a double feature with War of the Satellites. Starring Alison Hayes, William Hudson and Yvette Vickers, it follows a woman who comes into contact with an alien spaceship and is turned into a giant. She then uses her towering height to wreak havoc, which includes getting back at her husband, who’s been cheating on her. Nathan Hertz directed and Mark Hanna wrote the script.
Nowadays Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is considered a cult classic, and along with being referenced across pop culture, it was previously remade in 1993 as a TV movie for HBO, as well as parodied in 1995’s Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold and 2011’s Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader. While it’s unclear at this point whether Tim Burton’s Attack of the 50 Foot Woman will remain set in the 1950s or take place in the present day, the director is no stranger to directing sci-fi movies set in the 1950s, having previously helmed Mars Attacks!, which delivered one of the great Jack Nicholson performances. He also played around in the world of 1950s Hollywood with his biographical drama about cult filmmaker Ed Wood.
Obviously we’re a long ways off from Burton’s take on Attack of the 50 Foot Woman coming out, but it’ll be interesting to see how he and Gillian Flynn can re-envision this tale for modern audiences. Also, considering that Burton’s version of Dumbo was met with mixed critical reception (CinemaBlend’s review gave it 3 out of 5 stars), let’s hope he fares better critically with this remake. In addition to his work on the Beetlejuice sequel, the director also contributed to the TV landscape recently by producing and directing several episodes of Wednesday, the popular Jenna Ortea-led series based on the Addams Family character that can be streamed with a Netflix subscription.
We’ll pass along more news about Tim Burton’s work on Attack of the 50 Foot Woman as it comes in. Meanwhile, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens in theaters on September 6.
