Four-time Academy Award winner Ben Burtt will direct the live-action feature film adaptation of Hurricane Ent.s flagship comic book property CHASSIS. It is being produced by Hurricane Ent. along with Josh Morris and Kevin Cleary of Content House.
CHASSIS is set in the world of rocket car racing in a retro-futuristic 1949. "It's the story of a young woman who longs to be a rocket racer but her father won't allow it. Partly due to the dangers involved in the high speed race, but mostly because of the dangerous and nefarious men who run the sport," said CHASSIS creator and president of Hurricane Ent., William O'Neill.
When asked what attracted him to CHASSIS, Burtt replied: "Well, I love fantasy and adventure. The setting for CHASSIS provides a wonderful escapism. I see a hint of the same magic I felt when working on the first STAR WARS and Indy films. I think today's audiences will be surprised and receptive to CHASSIS. It's going to be something they haven't seen before."
For the San Diego Comic-Con, Hurricane and Burtt have created a four-minute live-action short to show off the world of CHASSIS. The CG shots were created by Third Floor Studios, a start-up company consisting of the team that did the previs on STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH.
Also helping on the film is EPISODE III concept artist Ryan Church, who designed the rocket racecars.
The short will have its world premiere at the San Diego Comic Con, July 16, at 1:00 pm, in room 5-AB.
Hurricane Ent. will also be premiering a special convention exclusive CHASSIS comicbook at their booth (#2205). Included is a short story written and drawn by Neill, an exclusive interview with Burtt and a cover by Church. It will have a very limited print run of only 1,500.
Working alongside George Lucas since 1975, Burtt has not only won four Oscars but has also been nominated 10 times for his sound design work and sound editing on: STAR WARS, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, ET and INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE. He has directed the YOUNG INDIANA JONES movie, ATTACK OF THE HAWKMEN as well as the IMAX films BLUE PLANET and SPECIAL EFFECTS. Burtt's most recent work includes editing the current STAR WARS prequels as well as creating a new sound division for Pixar Animation.
Hurricane Ent. (www.hurricanec.com), a Los Angeles-based content development company created in 1996 by the husband and wife team William and Jan Utstein-O'Neill. In addition to publishing popular titles such as CHASSIS and VIOLENT MESSIAHS, Hurricane also recently published the comic mini-series, JOHN CARPENTER'S SNAKE PLISSKEN CHRONICLES, with Kurt Russell, Carpenter and the late Debra Hill, based on the hit movie ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
