Though Universal first adopted Clifford the Big Red Dog, tentatively placing a big-screen movie on course for release in 2016, Deadline brings word that the giant canine has now found a home at Paramount.
Enlisting screenwriter Justin Malen (Baywatch), it’s understood the rejuvenated feature film will incorporate both CGI and live-action sequences in a manner not dissimilar to Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book.
A product of celebrated author and cartoonist Norman Bridwell, Clifford the Big Red Dog first roared to life all the way back in the early ’60s, going on to become a fixture of childhoods nationwide through Bridwell’s own novels and the eventual TV adaptations. Now, a bona fide feature film is in the works.
Orbiting around Emily Elizabeth, a pint-sized young girl who grows up in a rural community, Clifford kicks into gear when, inexplicably, Emily’s loveable birthday present grows to be 25 feet tall. There’s currently no mention of who could play Emily in Paramount’s adaptation, but it’ll surely be a sought-after role for up-and-coming stars. Meanwhile, Bridwell’s big, friendly giant first graced screen in 2004 via the animated romp Clifford’s Really Big Movie.
No word yet of a release timeline for Paramount’s Clifford the Big Red Dog, but the priority now will be to crank out a screenplay before the inevitable casting process can get underway.
