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Beetlejuice, Big Fish, and Edward Scissorhands are movies that could only be made by an outsider director obsessed with misfits and monsters, and Tim Burton is indeed one such visionary. However, many fans believe late-career Burton has wandered too far from his origins. Focusing on glossy studio remakes and sequels, like Alice in Wonderland and Dumbo, Burton has seemingly traded in his unique gothic expressionism for box office dollars. Yet, his new project may have the potential to reignite the fanbase.
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According to recent reports, Burton is now well into development on a remake of the 1958 cult sci-fi B-movie Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, with Margot Robbie attached to star and produce. Sure, it’s another remake, but rather than a Disney cash grab, this one feels distinctly in the lineage of Burton’s work. In fact, it seems to be a full circle moment, and perhaps a spiritual sequel to Burton’s 1994 classic Ed Wood, which starred Johnny Depp and centered around… the real director of a sci-fi B-movie.
Tim Burton’s Love of Sci-Fi B-Movies Resurfaces Over Three Decades Later
Over 30 years since its release, Ed Wood remains one of Burton’s most critically acclaimed films. Shot in black and white and featuring Depp as the fatally optimistic director, the movie treats Wood’s passion for filmmaking as a noble pursuit, despite the terrible results and frequent failures. It’s obvious that Burton, as a director himself, used the character of Wood to exercise some of his own fears, insecurities, or experiences and dedicate a movie to the craft of filmmaking. After all, for their many differences, Wood and Burton are both outsiders who struggled against a monolithic system. And both directors come from the tradition of scrappy DIY filmmaking, building strange worlds on limited resources, leaning into camp, and believing wholeheartedly in ideas others found ridiculous.
Burton’s Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is more than an homage to the low-budget cult sci-fi genre; it seems to be Burton making a beeline back to his roots. The 1958 original film, directed by Nathan Juran, was a drive-in exploitation staple about Nancy Archer, a wealthy woman who grows to enormous size after an alien encounter, then uses her newfound power to confront her unfaithful husband. However, it didn’t become a cult hit in spite of its cheesy sets and wild melodrama, but precisely because of them. Fun and unforgettable, the original Attack of the 50 Foot Woman also came three years after the real Ed Wood made Bride of the Monster, and one year after his movie Plan 9 From Outer Space. Over time, this genre has been reevaluated and found an audience among modern film buffs, becoming a staple of cult classic screenings and sci-fi retrospectives.
Burton’s remake reportedly stars Margot Robbie as Nancy, with the screenplay being reworked by the writing duo behind KPop Demon Hunters, Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan. Early reports suggest a character-driven revenge tale that modernizes the story while (God willing) preserving its B-movie soul. If the film performs well, it may even enable Burton to achieve an elite box office status. While the outcome remains to be seen, it’s nonetheless exciting to see Burton moving away from Disney remakes and back toward his love of oddities.
Do you think Tim Burton’s next film will be a successful return to his roots? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
