Earlier this year, Andrew Stanton‘s first live-action effort made its leap onto the big screen but was quickly overshadowed by unsubstantiated rumors of a bloated budget and unplanned reshoots. Stanton went on the record, combating many of the negative rumors attached to John Carter. Now that there are currently no plans for a sequel, he confirms that, in line with unconfirmed reports back in July, he is returning to Pixar to direct a follow-up to Finding Nemo.
Photo By Al Seib, Los Angeles Times
In an exclusive L.A. Times piece, Stanton explains his experience working on John Carter, including how he translated the Pixar approach to filmmaking to the live-action Disney film. Towards the end of the article, talk turns towards a Finding Nemo 2:
After “The Abyss,” Cameron returned to the film that had launched him, “The Terminator,” and made “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” Similarly, Stanton’s next directing project will be a sequel to “Finding Nemo.”
“What was immediately on the list was writing a second ‘Carter’ movie,” he said. When that went away, everything slid up. I know I’ll be accused by more sarcastic people that it’s a reaction to ‘Carter’ not doing well, but only in its timing, but not in its conceit.”
You may recall that Stanton responded to the rumors in July by tweeting one should not believe everything that is published. Reports were that not only was he directing a second Nemo, but that he was doing it solely to please Disney enough to get another chance at tackling the John Carter franchise. It seems that Stanton’s tweet was just meant to deny the reported reason for his taking on the Nemo sequel, not the project itself.
So, it appears that we will see another underwater film from Andrew Stanton. Will it be a direct sequel to the first film, reuniting characters such as Nemo and Dory that audiences all over the world fell in love with? Or will it be a decidedly different take involving fish? We will have to wait and see. Would I love to see him bring another original concept to the screen? Absolutely. However, if Stanton, director of Finding Nemo and WALL-E is working on another animated film, all I know right now is I am on board.
