A second trailer for the animated film 9 is online. It offers a lot of details to the origin story, and we get to hear some of the voiceover work, which includes Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, and Christopher Plummer. Oh, and it has that epic Coheed and Cambria song, too.
The teaser trailer for the upcoming computer-animated film 9 (based on the Academy Award-nominated short of the same name) has been released (view it in HD on Apple's website).
Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambatov (Nightwatch, Wanted) are producing the film, which will be directed by Shane Acker (who directed the original 2005 short).
The official plot synopsis included Elijah Wood as the character 9, Jennifer Connelly as the warrior 7, Martin Landau (who was in Burton's Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow) playing the role of the aged inventor 2, Crispin Glover playing the visionary artist 6 (who will be in Burton's Alice in Wonderland), Christopher Plummer as war veteran 1, and John C. Reilly as 5, the mechanic.
Danny Elfman will also be composing music for the film, according to the official synopsis on Apple's trailer website. Pamela Pettler (co-writer of Corpse Bride) co-wrote the screenplay.
The epic science-fiction action-adventure was originally intended to be released at the end of this year. Instead, Focus Features has pushed it back to September 9th, 2009 (9-9-09, get it?).
You can also watch a (slightly) lower quality version of the HD teaser trailer on YouTube:
Martin Landau, who earned an Oscar for his performance as Bela Lugosi in the film, and screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski will be at the screening.
Wednesday, November 5, 7:30PM $10 Aero Theater, 1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica 310-260-1528
A rare promotional video from 1994 advertising Tim Burton's Ed Wood was recently found and posted on YouTube.com by John Erik Taylor. The short video (a little under seven minutes long) was shown at sci-fi conventions before the film's release, and features behind-the-scenes footage and unseen interviews with the cast and crew. This promo wasn't on the Ed Wood DVD, so fans of the film and Tim Burton will find this to be a rare treat.
The promo features interviews with Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Martin Landau (in a highly memorable and moving performance as an aging Bela Lugosi), Sarah Jessica Parker (as Dolores Fuller, Wood's girlfriend and actress), screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, and make-up artist Ve Neill (a frequent Burton collaborator who first worked with the director on Beetlejuice).
Here's the link to the video on YouTube.com (you can also watch it below).
The film is based on a 10 1/2 minute long short of the same name, which was directed by Shane Acker. The short took 4 1/2 years to make. It differs from its upcoming feature adaptation in that the original short did not feature any voices. Instead, an unusual semblance of unique sound effects and music moved the story along. The film was nominated for an Oscar in 2005.
Though it will be made in CGI, the computer animation is said to mimic the movement of stop-motion animation, which Tim Burton is so fond of.
Poster for the original short 9 (2004)
Other actors who have lent their voices for the upcoming project include Martin Landau (who was in Tim Burton's Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow), Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, and Christopher Plummer. Along with Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, Dana Ginsburg, Jim Lemley, and Marci Levine will produce the movie.
Pictures of Burton at AFI Directors Screening in L.A.
Pictures of Tim Burton at last Friday's AFI Directors Screening have been posted, courtesy of Joshua J. Smelser. After a screening of Sweeney Todd, Burton took questions from the audience. A surprise guest introduced the director: Martin Landau, an actor who won an Academy Award for his performance as horror legend Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood and also had a small role in Sleepy Hollow.
Martin Landau and film critic Claudia Puig of USA Today.