Orson Welles will Pull a Tupac for CHRISTMAS TAILS
Orson Welles will be making his big-screen comeback, despite... ya know, having been dead for the past 25 years. In a move once reserved for post-mortal album churning artists like Tupac Shakur, John Lennon, and most recently Johnny Cash, Drac Studios will be using thought-to-be-lost recording of Welles' voice as narration for the 3D live-action/CG hybrid holiday film Christmas Tails.
Drac is the special effects and makeup shop behind films like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and will be making their full-fledged production debut with Todd Tucker-directed film, which will be based around and utilize recordings that Welles made in 1985 for his friend, Robert X Leed. Leed had self-published a book titled Christmas Tails, and taped Welles reading his story so that he could pass the narration to friends alongside the book. (He might as well have got John Williams to score it too.)
In 2008, Drac president Harvey Lowry heard a passing rumor of the "lost tapes," and contacted Reed, who confirmed the tapes' existence and sent them to Lowry's Burbank offices. After Lowry heard Welles' distinct voice, he immediately worked out a deal to option the book, acquired the recordings, and got permission from the Welles' estate to use the legendary filmmaker's voice.
Using animatronic movie animals, and a CG North Pole, Tucker (Monster Mutt) will direct from a screenplay by Matt Thompson (Sealab 2021, Space Ghost) based on Leed's book.
Christmas Tails follows Santa's dog, who gathers other canines in the North to help save the day, after Santa's reindeer fall ill, forcing him to consider canceling Christmas.
Lowry told THR:
It's a movie about how Santa's dog saves Christmas, but on one level, this a story about the discovery of Orson's lost tapes. This is a substantial find. It's something that a filmmaker dreams of.
Not only is it a dream for the filmmakers, but this could be the closest this generation of actors will get to acting with Welles! Bryan Singer used a similar method for Superman Returns, using unused takes of Marlon Brando as Jor-El. But Welles will serve more of a Boris Karloff's narration in How the Grinch Stole Christmas type role.
Christmas Tails is gearing towards a summer or fall start date, with aims for a Christmas 2011 release.