Dec 19, 2014

"Pyongyang" cartoonist talks about the cancellation of the Gore-Babinsky film project

The first creative casualty resulting from the Sony hack (The Interview notwithstanding) is a project that's not even being produced by Sony; it's the New Regency film adaptation of Guy Delisle's graphic novel Pyongyang (reviewed in 2010 on Cartoon Brew). The project was cancelled earlier this week after Fox, which is part-owner in New Regency, pulled out of its commitment to distribute the film.

Director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean, Rango) was set to begin filming the movie next March, and Steve Carrell had been cast as the lead. Doubly disappointing, the film was based on Delisle's real-life experience as an animation supervisor sent to North Korea to work on the Corto Maltese animated series. The idea had been rewritten for the screen as a “paranoid thriller.”

While Steve Carrell has already vented his frustration on Twitter (“Sad day for creative expression. #feareatsthesoul”) and Gore Verbinski has commented to Deadline (“I find it ironic that fear is eliminating the possibility to tell stories that depict our ability to overcome fear.”), we had yet to hear from the French-Canadian Delisle who created the project.

That changed yesterday when Delisle posted a statement in French on his website. Tonight, he posted the English version of that piece, entitled “Farewell Hollywood.” Below is Delisle's statement reprinted in full:

Even though there won't be a live-action film anymore, Delisle's graphic novel Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea can be purchased for $9.31 on Amazon.