"The Lorax": $132m domestic gross (to date). "Horton Hears a Who!": $297m worldwide gross. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas": $345m worldwide gross. Dr Seuss adaptations are a cinematic brand that audiences respond to. Or to put it another way: When Hollywood studios adapt Dr. Seuss books, it's pretty much certain they'll make them big bucks. Even the dreadful live-action "The Cat in the Hat" starring Mike Myers earned more than $100m domestic, so don't be surprised to hear about a "Green Eggs and Ham" movie in the works, sooner rather than later.
The next Dr. Seuss story to make its way to thatres, however, will be one we've already seen. Illumination Entertainment ("The Lorax," "Hop," "Despicable Me") will be trying their luck with "The Cat in the Hat" again, but this time they'll be turning it into a 3D CG-animated feature, rather than a Mike Myers clusterfuck. It's one of the most famous stories from the author, and Illumination's Chris Meledandri and keeper of all things Seuss, Audrey Geisel, will be hoping that the reputation of the story eclipses the negative connotations associated with that 2003 live-action effort.
Meledandri oversaw "Horton Hears a Who" over at Fox, and struck up a relationship with the late author's wife, Geisel. That relationship was brought over to Universal's Illumination, and there's also plans for a Dr. Seuss biopic with Johnny Depp currently attached to proudce and possibly star. Illumination are certainly making the most of their ties with Geisel and it looks like they have somewhat of a monopoly over this new box-office brand. We agree that "The Cat in the Hat" is probably a story better suited to animation, and there's little chance of it being any worse than the last effort, so why not remake it? Rob Lieber will pen the script but we wouldn't expect to see this until 2014 at the very earliest. [Deadline]