On the list of projects we figured would never get made, “Bubbles” is pretty high up there. The script by Isaac Adamson topped the 2015 Black List, and it’s certainly bold stuff, but given that it touched upon the terrain of Michael Jackson, we figured the potential controversy might be too great for anyone to touch it (just look at the episode of “Urban Myths” featuring Joseph Fiennes as the King Of Pop which was yanked from release following mountains of bad publicity). Well, if anyone is going to tackle it, Taika Waititi is an inspired choice.
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The director behind “Hunt For The Wilderpeople,” “What We Do In The Shadows,” and the upcoming “Thor: Ragnarok” is teaming with Mark Gustafson to co-helm “Bubbles.” Intriguingly, the movie will be a stop-motion animated tale, said to be in the vein of “Anomalisa,” and it will find Bubbles the Chimp narrating his own story and sharing the details of his life within The King of Pop’s inner circle through the scandals that later rocked Jackson’s life and eventually led to Bubbles’ release. Again, the premise is great, but we’ll see what the artist’s estate has to say about this before we get too excited, but the filmmakers are already taking the position that this is not a movie about Jackson.
“This film is not about Michael Jackson because that’s not a story for me to tell — or a story I’d be comfortable telling — it’s about a chimpanzee’s fascinating journey through the complex jungle of human life,” Waititi said.
A project we’ll be keeping an eye on, for sure. “Thor: Ragnarok” opens on November 3, 2017. [Deadline]
