Bone (lost production material of cancelled film adaptations of Jeff Smith comic series; 1998-2000; 2008-2016)
The Front Cover of Bone: The Complete Edition.
Status: Lost
Bone is a fantasy comic book series created by Jeff Smith and published by Cartoon Books that ran from 1991 to 2004 for 55 issues. It tells the story of the Bone Cousins (Fone, Phoney, and Smiley) who are ran out of Boneville and end up in The Valley. With the help of Thorn and her grandmother, Gran'ma Ben, the cousins try to get back to their home. All the while, they're caught up in trials and tribulations through the valley, and even a war. The series has become a beloved cult classic among readers, with many attempts having been made to adapt the series into film, however, none have been successful. Only a handful of material for either adaptation of the comic has surfaced.
Nickelodeon Movies/Paramount Pictures version (1998-2000)
In August 1998, Jeff Smith signed a deal with Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies to produce an animated adaptation of Bone.[1] A first draft of the script was written a year later, with Smith stating that pre-production may start in 2000, with him to lead as director.[2] The story would've followed the Bone Cousins ending up in the valley, where they would meet Thorn and Grand'ma Ben. Smith pitched the story to be very simple, but with an open ending that could potentially lead to more sequels for the future. However, Nickelodeon wanted to change the ending and make the film more kid-friendly. Most notably, they wanted the Bones to be played by children, and for Fone Bone to have "Magic Gloves".[3] They also wanted to shift more focus on the character Thorn, and even debated focusing the movie on her instead.[3] There were also talks of pop songs by NSYNC and Britney Spears to be featured in the films soundtrack, which was quickly turned down by Smith.[3] The executive meddling caused Smith to walk out of the film, resulting in production being cancelled in August of 2000.[4]
Warner Bros. version (2008-2016)
Nearly eight years after the previous version was cancelled, it was revealed in March of 2008 that a new Bone film was in production. This time, it was to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, with Dan Lin producing, and Smith coming on board as a executive producer.[5] Animal Logic (known for their Oscar-winning film Happy Feet) and Lin Pictures were to produce, as it was later announced in 2009 that the film was instead going to become a CGI trilogy, with animation being provided from the former (featuring motion capture) [6], with the first film being based on either the first three or four books with a potential PG or PG-13 rating and was to be written by Justin Monjo (known for Farscape).[7] A four minute animation demo reel was shown to Smith in summer 2011, who described it as:
"Fone Bone was falling in the water and going through cliffs and canyons. The dragon moved in from off camera in the shadows with smoke around him, all in 3-D. It was pretty mind-blowing."[8]
In January 2012, Greek creator Patrick Sean Smith was brought on to write, working on a previous draft by Monjo, and P.J. Hogan signed on as the director with a projected release date in either 2013 or 2014. [9] However, nothing was ever announce in the following years about the film, and in November 2016, Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda) and Adam Kline, were revealed to direct and write the film trilogy, effectively replacing Smith and Hogan.[10] There has been no further news on the project since, and with the announcement of a Bone animated series coming to Netflix, the project has more than likely been shelved.[11]
Availability
Up until mid 2020, no material from either version of the film had surfaced. Although no production material for the Warner Bros. version of the film has been found, it was discovered on August 16th, 2020 by Reddit user Clean-Cupcakes on r/Bone that Paramount concept art was featured on a defunct animation website called Animated Movies, on their page about the Bone film. [12] Though its initial legitimacy was questioned, fellow Reddit user Lokigere revealed further details, and was able to prove that the art was legitimate. The concept art was featured in a collection of novels for the series titled Bone Vernal Equinox Slipcase Edition, and also contained another piece of concept art for the film. A day later, the user uploaded both images, albeit in low quality. [13] It's still unknown how much (if any) animation was done for the Paramount version of the film. With Netflix now owning the adaptation rights to Bone, it's unlikely either adaptation of the film will ever see the light of day.
Gallery
The two known pieces of concept art for the Nickelodeon/Paramount Bone film
Concept art of the Bone Cousins and Thorn walking through a forest.
Videos
External Links
- Animated Movies page on the Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movie Bone adaptation. Retrieved 18 Aug '20
References
- ↑ News article on Nick Movies buying the film rights to Bone from 1998. Retrieved 18 Jul '20
- ↑ An interview with Jeff Smith from 1999, detailing production on the film. Retrieved 18 Jul '20
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 An interview with Jeff Smith from 2003 about the cancellation of the film. Retrieved 18 Jul '20
- ↑ News about the cancellation of the Nickelodeon adaptation of the film. Retrieved 18 Jul '20
- ↑ A news article about the Warner Bros. film's annoucement. Retrieved 5 Feb '21
- ↑ 2010 article stating the film will use motion capture. Retrieved 5 Feb '21
- ↑ 2009 Interview with producer Dan Lin, discussing the status of the film. Retrieved 5 Feb '21
- ↑ Smith reporting on early test footage for the Warner Bros. adaptation of Bone. Retrieved 18 Jul '20
- ↑ News article about the directors and producers assigned to Warner Bros. film adaptation of Bone. Retrieved 5 Feb '21
- ↑ News of the Warner Bros. Bone film adaptation getting new directors. Retrieved 18 Jul '20
- ↑ News of a Bone animated series coming to Netflix. Retrieved 18 Jul '20
- ↑ Animated Movies webpage featuring the Nick/Paramount Bone concept art. Retrieved 18 Aug '20
- ↑ Bone movie concept art from the Bone Vernal Equinox Slipcase Edition. Retrieved 18 Aug '20