What’s Tim Burton have his eyes on next now that “Wednesday” S3 has finished shooting? Deadline reports that the director may return to the big screen next, teaming up with Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro for an original film set in post-WWII Japan.
Plot details remain under wraps, but sources tell the outlet the untitled project will not be based on any past or upcoming novel by Ishiguro. What’s more, this package doesn’t have a distributor either, which may make it a prime candidate for AFI next month. Or perhaps not. No actor or actress is attached to the film right now, and Burton hasn’t confirmed if this will indeed be his next film at all; it’s simply the project he’s worked on developing during his “Wednesday” duties.
Whenever this gets made, however, it won’t be Ishiguro’s first foray into the world of cinema. Two of the writer’s most acclaimed novels, “Never Let Me Go” and “Klara And The Sun,” have been adapted for the big screen (Taika Waititi‘s adaptation of the latter, starring “Wednesday” actress Jenna Ortega, hits theaters next week), and Ishiguro has also penned original screenplays, including, most recently, 2022’s “Living.“
Burton’s previous film was 2024’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” the long-awaited sequel to his 1988 film. It was a critical and commercial success, and a return to form after Burton’s disastrous remake of “Dumbo” for Disney back in 2019. Since that debacle, Burton has steadied himself with “Wednesday” on Netflix.
So, will Burton’s next film indeed be this secret project with Ishiguro? Only time will tell.