Josh Brolin is teaming with screenwriters Kieran and Michele Mulroney to develop an idea of his that features a new take on Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Variety is reporting the deal and suggesting that Tim Burton could be in early talks to direct.
With the story dating back to 1831, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” has been adapted dozens of times across film, television, radio, and for the stage (including in musical and ballet versions). Set in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the novel tells of Quasimodo, a deformed hunchback who dwells within and who falls in love with a dancing Gypsy, Esmeralda.
Specifics of the project are unknown and, while it is likely that Brolin would appear in the film, it is unclear whether it would be in the part of Quasimodo. Burton’s involvement is even less certain as, even if he’s interested, still has a number of projects already on the table, including finishing work on Frankenweenie before moving into Dark Shadows and a potential attachment to Monsterpocalypse and Maleficent.
Brolin is currently shooting Men in Black III. The “Hunchback” project is being set up at Warner Bros. where the Mulroneys recently turned in the script for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
