Why won’t Tim Roth appear in Inglorious Bastards? Might be because he has to co-star (with Kelly MacDonald) in an adaptation of the highly-praised children’s book Skellig. The story follows young Michael and his family, who move into the home of a man who died within, only to lie undiscovered for weeks. In the crammed, junky garage Michael finds a shriveled, odd creature called Skellig. Nursing him on beer and Chinese food, Mike begins to think Skellig might be an angel; his suspicions deepen with the involvement of a little girl who is into William Blake.
Call me slightly dubious, and not only because several elements call to mind The Reflecting Skin, which I’d rather forget.
But then I latched onto a crucial piece of info: Skellig is to be directed by Annabel Jankel. If that doesn’t ring a bell it’s time to go get your movie info from About.com. Jankel’s credit list is…daunting. With partner Rocky Morton she co-created Max Headroom and directed SUPER MARIO BROS. Bob Hoskins is quick to praise Jankel’s work, as seen here from an old interview in The Guardian. “The worst thing I ever did? Super Mario Brothers. It was a fuckin’
nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a
husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for
talent. After so many weeks their own agent told them to get off the
set! Fuckin’ nightmare. Fuckin’ idiots.”
Sold! Shooting begins today in Wales; the Sky One flick will premiere on the network in the spring, then hit theatres.