‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ writer says a Disney live-action remake would be ‘greedy and stupid’

• “The Nightmare Before Christmas” screenwriter Caroline Thompson told Insider that she definitely does not want a Disney live-action remake of the iconic movie.
• “That would be so awful,” Thompson said. “I hope Tim [Burton] has enough rights that they can’t do that.”
• There were reported talks about a new “The Nightmare Before Christmas” movie in 2019, but nothing was clarified as to whether it would be an animated sequel, spin-off, or live-action remake.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The screenwriter behind “The Nightmare Before Christmas”  definitely does not want a live-action remake of the iconic Halloween-Christmas movie.

“Do you really think they would do that? That would be so awful,” Caroline Thompson, who co-wrote the screenplay after another writer exited, told Insider when asked.

It’s no secret that Disney has been finding a lot of financial success with their remakes of their classic animated movies, including “Beauty & the Beast,” which grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide, and “The Lion King,” which grossed over $1.6 billion globally. “Maleficent” and “The Jungle Book” also grossed over $750 million and $950 million globally respectively.

However, when Insider asked Thompson what she would think if Disney decided to give the dark-hearted cousin of their animated movies the live-action remake treatment, she was not enamored by the idea.

“I hope Tim [Burton] has enough rights that they can’t do that,” Thompson continued. “It’s superfluous. That’s greedy and stupid.” 

There have been rumors of a "The Nightmare Before Christmas" sequel in animated form, but Burton has always swiftly shut them down. However, in February 2019, it was reported that talks for a new "Nightmare" movie were underway, but they didn't specify whether that would be an animated sequel, spin-off or a live-action remake.

Burton himself has actually already been involved in three Disney live-action remakes: "Alice in Wonderland" and it's sequel "Through the Looking Glass" along with  "Dumbo." However, none of those movies fared that well with critics. "Alice in Wonderland" has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 55% while "Dumbo" has a rating of 46%.

The director isn't alone. Disney's live-action remakes may have all been financially successful, but they haven't always been that warmly received critically. "Mulan" and "The Lady and The Tramp" both scored 51% with critics while "Maleficent" managed a middling 70%. Still, there have been critic-favorites such as "Aladdin," which earned a score of 94%, and "The Lion King," which nabbed 88% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Despite mixed critical reviews, the box-office returns of every movie guarantees that Disney will continue to raid their back catalogue of animated hits and churn them out into live-action remakes.

In fact, there is a slew of Disney live-action remakes already in the works, including "Cruella," "The Little Mermaid," "Peter Pan & Wendy," "Hercules," "Pinocchio," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Lilo & Stitch," and sequels or spin-offs to existing remakes to "The Lion King," "The Jungle Book," and "Aladdin."

Thompson hopes "The Nightmare Before Christmas" doesn't join that list anytime soon.

Read more:

Screaming, smashing editing machines and a 'snorted salary': Inside the tumultuous making of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'

18 things you probably didn't know about 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'

20 details you probably missed in 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'