At San Diego Comic-Con Thursday, The Incredibles and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol director Brad Bird revealed he’s looking to turn his long-in-development project about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake into a miniseries.
This project goes way back for Bird, with the first reports that he was considering making it as a feature film dating back to 2007. It was meant to be his live-action debut, but never came to be, with Bird instead making Ghost Protocol.
Bird dismissed what he referred to as “BS stories online” at the time that the movie version was halted because of budget concerns. Instead, he said, it simply was a situation of not being able to figure out how to fit everything he wanted to into one film.
As Bird explained, when he began to research the 1906 quake, “the deeper I dug, the more stuff [I’d find].” At a certain point, he felt like he was cutting too much, which is why a miniseries would be a natural fit. Though he cautioned it would indeed need a large budget because “it has to be big like a movie.”
Bird’s comments about the project were made during the Brad Bird: My Cinematic Journey panel at SDCC, hosted by Collider EIC Steven Weintraub. When Weintraub asked how Bird envisions the miniseries, he remarked, “It’s probably like eight episodes. But it has the greatest build ever. It’s not just the earthquake, it’s the fire after earthquake.”
He went on to note that the fire that followed the earthquake was fed by giant winds that “got to be like gale force.”
Understandably, much of the panel was focused on Bird’s next project, the animated movie Ray Gunn releasing on Netflix this fall. Incredibles 3 was also mentioned, with longtime Bird collaborator, composer Michael Giachinno (who also scored Spider-Man: Brand New Day), making a surprise appearance. Bird reiterated that he is not directing Incredibles 3 — Pete Sohn (Elemental) will direct — but he is co-writing (alongside Dana Murray) and producing the project.
As for Giachinno’s involvement, when the composer coyly asked who’s doing the score, Bird joked, “the ghost of Jerry Goldsmith” before deadpanning: “We’ll talk about it.” That’s probably a confirmation Giachinno will indeed return for the next installment of the Incredibles franchise.
Bird also mentioned a bit about another project he has in development — one that could potentially happen before the 1906 miniseries. Bird didn’t want to reveal many details, but said it was a film he’d direct. “It’s live-action, but there’s animation in it.”
