A second horror movie based on the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse is in the works. This time from the creators of the Grinch horror film The Mean One.
Steamboat Willie Set to Slay
After Mickey’s Mouse Trap capitalized on the character entering the public domain with a January 1 reveal of ”a slasher in a mouse mask” movie and a version of the character set to feature in co-op horror game Infestation 88, we barely got another 24 hours before another interpretation of the early Mickey Mouse design, which Disney no longer owns.
Stephen LaMorte is set to direct the as-yet-untitled horror spin on Steamboat Willie and insists the decision to make the film stems from a love of playing about with such an iconic character rather than making ”a quick buck”.
“It all comes from our love of these characters,” said LaMorte. “Filmmakers — we’re all kids in the sandbox. We love taking them and playing with them in different ways. It’s not a desire to ruin these characters or make a quick buck, but to love them and honor them and show them in a new light.”
There is caution to not step on Disney’s very expensive shoes as despite losing the rights to the 1928 version of Mickey Mouse, it still owns later iterations, and the company will no doubt be keenly eyeing any public domain interpretations for potential breaches. LaMorte isn’t worried though, as he believes they’ve followed the rules with their movie and will not even refer to the character as anything other than Steamboat Willie.
LaMorte’s The Grinch horror parody The Mean One made $1 million at the box office on a shrewd budget, It didn’t exactly make the most of an interesting concept, but there’s still hope the same won’t be true of his Steamboat Willie adaptation.
