Beatles “Yellow Submarine” CGI Remake : Movie News

A remake of The Beatles classic 1968 animated feature “Yellow Submarine” is set to hit cinemas in the summer of 2012 (if the world hasn’t self imploded by then of course) with Oscar-winning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis at the helm.

Variety reports that Zemeckis (who has a mighty big hard-on for CGI motion capture lately with Beowulf, The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol) will join with Disney to remake the cult acid trip inspired cartoon from 1968 which was based on the music of The Beatles.

The Beatles : Rolling In Cash Scrooge McDuck Style

Not surprisingly, the deal hasn’t been an easy one with Disney “quietly brokering a complicated rights deal that would give Zemeckis access to 16 original Beatles songs for a movie he will direct using the performance capture 3D digital production format he employed for A Christmas Carol“. The deal is also expected to involve the “future prospects of a Broadway stage musical like Disney accomplished with The Lion King“.

It’s been a boom time for The Beatles back catalogue (and Paul & Ringo’s back pockets) in the last 18 months with the re-issue and re-master of every Beatles album (including that nifty Limited Edition Apple USB we showed you a few weeks back), the video game Beatles Rockband and the Cirque du Soleil stage production of “Love”. And if sales figures are anything to go by – you can pretty much expect Yellow Submarine Version 2.0 to pull in some huge bank.

For those not in the know, the original flick (which, admittedly is probably too trippy for modern day audiences to really accept in large numbers) dealt with Sgt Pepper’s Lonley Hearts Club Band and the faraway kingdom of Pepperland, as well as Old Fred’s battle against the bad vibe aggression of the Blue Meanies.

Personally, I’m thinking this could be cool. Robert Zemeckis was behind Back To The Future, so in my books he has free reign to do whatever the hell he likes. But there is also the matter of the technology, which is coming along at a cracking pace. If done correctly, it could be an amazing visual spectacular of the likes Terry Gilliam could only dream of making (or knowing his luck… actually completing).

The opening cinematic of The Beatles Rockband is a potential glimpse into what we might expect (especially the last minute or so of the video), and if Zemeckis captures even half the coolness of the Rockband opening, we might just have ourselves the ultimate and most fitting Beatles send-off fans could ever hope for.