According to the Hollywood Reporter, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are producing fully-animated Flintstones movie for Warner Bros. Chris Henchy (The Campaign) will write the script. The Flintstones previously had a live-action adaptation released in 1994 starring John Goodman and Rick Moranis with over 30 writers working on the script. The film was a critical failure. A second attempt at live action translastion, 2000’s The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas didn’t fare much better.
Airing from 1960-66 The Flintstones animated series followed the “Modern Stone Age Family” of Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their best friends Barney and Betty Rubble in their hometown of Bedrock. The show later ran in syndication for decades and has remained recognizable property to this day. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane recently attempted a reboot of the TV show but the idea was scrapped before the pilot episode aired.
Warner Bros. has not announced a release date or a cast. It is also unknown what type of animation will be used. The original cartoon used a simple, hand-drawn animation style intended to keep costs down, though the movie will almost certainly use CG animation. Still, as the teaser for the Peanuts movie demonstrates, CG animation can still reflect the style of the original.
Ferrell and McKay’s Gary Sanchez Productions has never made an animated film before – the studio’s output has consisted of teen/adult comedies including Step Brothers, Anchorman 2, and Casa de mi Padre. Will Ferrell has appeared in most of the studio’s films in addition to producing, and he seems a likely choice to star as the voice of Fred Flintstone. The Flintstones were originally owned Hanna-Barbera, the same animation studio responsible for Yogi Bear and Scooby-Doo, both of which had critically panned film adaptations released by Warner Bros.
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