With a variety of other projects that never came to fruition, Tim Burton reveals he’s a house of wax musical remake starring Michael Jackson. The series of horror films of the same name stems from the unpublished short story “The Wax Works” by Charles S. Belden, which revolves around a wax museum run by a mysterious sculptor and harboring a dark secret. The story was first brought to the big screen with the years 1933 Mystery of the wax museumwhich would lead to several remakes, including that of Vincent Price house of wax.
The property last found its way into cinemas with 2005’s house of wax remake stars Elisha Cuthbert, Jared Padalecki and Chad Michael Murray as a group of college friends who get trapped in a ghost town and discover a wax museum run by two sadistic brothers. Helped by the future Black Adam director Jaume Collet-Serra, the horror film received generally negative reviews from critics for its routine slasher formula and lack of closer ties to Price’s original film. While it has gained a bit of cult following, thanks to the death of Paris Hilton in the film, one filmmaker was eager to bring a new take on the film. house of wax property.
While talking to Deadline at the Lumière Festival, Burton recalled his efforts to get several projects off the ground throughout his career. One of those projects was a musical-style remake of the slasher horror movie house of wax, which Burton said he had his eye on Michael Jackson to star in, with the pop singer eager to participate. Check out what Burton said about why it didn’t go any further below:
I spent several months working on things that were rejected. [The studio] said no’. Can you believe it? [Laughs]
Could a remake of a House of Wax musical work?
Given the largely serious nature of the earlier adaptations, some will find the concept of a Michael Jackson starring house of wax musical remake questionable. It wouldn’t be the first horror-based musical to hit the big screen, though, as the genre previously had success with the likes of the Tim Curry-led The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Rick Moranis starring Small shop full of horrors. Even more niche corners of the horror genre have been given the musical treatment, including Darren Lynn Bousman repo! The Genetic Opera, The Devil’s Carnival and Anna and the Apocalypsewhich proves that with the right minds, behind any story, any story can have a musical twist.
Now that Jackson has passed away and the filmmaker is currently on his Addams Family-based Netflix show WednesdayBurton’s house of wax musical remake will likely never see the light of day, especially given the studio’s lack of prior interest. In addition, with the last house of wax remake proves to be only a modest success, it seems even less likely that Warner Bros. would like to visit the property again in the near future. Those who want to revisit the latter can find 2005’s house of wax movie streaming now on Fubo and Kanopy.
Source: Deadline
