NEWS

The first images from Mr. Peabody & Sherman have arrived, giving us a look at DreamWorks Animation’s take on the classic 1950s animated series. Along with the pics, comes a little commentary from director Rob Minkoff, via USA Today.

The film is about a genius canine, Mr. Peabody, and his adopted human son Sherman, who spring into action when Sherman uses their time machine without permission and moments in history begin to be changed. The commentary for the pic above confirms that, saying, ‘Mr. Peabody (voiced by Ty Burrell) is a genius dog, and Sherman (Max Charles) is his adopted son. Even the WABAC (pronounced “way back”) time-travel machine is back, but modernized for a new generation.’

The film is due out March 2014.

One big update from the original — Mr. Peabody drives a scooter with a sidecar. Director Rob Minkoff says the discussion of the right vehicle for the talking dog was a long one. “This scooter just sort of fit his personality.”

Sherman uses the WABAC machine to travel back in time to learn about history firsthand. And it works for the girls, too, including classmate Penny Peterson (Ariel Winter). Here, Sherman takes her on a spin on Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine.

The adventure begins when Penny decides she likes ancient Egypt so much that she’s going to stay forever. This is a big no-no for time travel. That forces Mr. Peabody to save the day, torches and all. Rob Minkoff says: “The prospect of altering history is something they have to worry about.”

The film “expands the relationship” between Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Rob Minkoff says. The oddball family has never had to deal with outside influences — like girls.

Rob Minkoff is confident that even the generation that has never heard of the original will love the 3-D screen version. “I pitch it to kids who don’t know the characters, and when they hear that Mr. Peabody is a dog that adopts a boy, it just sort of blows their mind. They love it.”

Quite a while ago now, Legendary Pictures announced they were planning a movie based on Hot Wheels. Now it’s been revealed that Simon Crane, a longtime second unit director, will make his feature directorial debut with Hot Wheels, according to THR.

Paul Attanasio has also been hired to rewrite the original script by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (Iron Man). Legendary had initially envisioned this as an edgier project, similar to Universal’s Fast & Furious franchise, although they are going in a different direction now. They’re presumably trying to make it more family friendly – after all, this is based on a toy brand.

Simon Crane first made his mark as a stuntman on movies like Batman and Total Recall before transitioning into a stunt coordinator and second unit director. He recently served as second unit director on World War Z, Edge of Tomorrow and Maleficent.