Danny DeVito Might Reteam With Tim Burton for ‘Dumbo’
That Dumbo movie still seems to be, for all intents and purposes, happening, and with Eva Green in talks to star in the Tim Burton remake, the ball continues to roll. Now, it looks like Danny DeVito — yes, you read that right — might also be heading to the big top.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, DeVito would star as Medici, a ringmaster of a small circus that gets bought up by villainous circus owner Vandemere. The movie will “expand and deepen the circus aspect” which may mean that there will be a lot more spectacle than in the 1941 animated classic (pink elephants on parade notwithstanding). In this same report, THR revealed that Eva Green, who is still negotiating, would play a trapeze artist in Vandemere’s circus. That could either mean that she’s as mean as he is, or that she’s a kind soul in an otherwise hostile environment who helps out Dumbo and his mother when she can. Dumbo himself and his mother, and probably a few other elephants, will be animated.
The movie will have four human leads: Medici, Vandemere, Green’s character, and one other, who hasn’t been announced yet. Whoever it is might’ve been the character Will Smith was set to play before he bowed out. Negotiations for all are still underway, but given the speediness at which Green’s and DeVito’s talks have been announced, it looks like Disney is casting around in earnest in preparation for a swift production start.