Deadline is reporting that Tim Burton will follow up his adaptations of Dark Shadows (for Warner Bros.) and his own Frankenweenie (for Disney) with yet another adaptation, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I haven't read the book by author Ransom Riggs (if that is his real name), but I'm a fan of the X-Men-ish title and the description provided by Amazon is definitely intriguing:
"It all waits to be
discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable
novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As
our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob
journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the
crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob
explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the
children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may
have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And
somehow--impossible though it seems--they may still be alive."
The novel's trailer
(which is a fad I'm
a huge fan of) frames the above narrative in the context of a grandfather
telling his grandson the story of the titular "peculiar children,"
like a less saccharine take on The Princess Bride. With the
inherent weirdness of an orphanage that houses invisible, fire-wielding,
telepathic, and levitational children couched in father-figure storytelling,
this is certainly up Tim Burton's goth-ic alley. Though, with his recent track
record, it's possible Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children could
end up more like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice
in Wonderland than either Big Fish or Edward
Scissorhands.