Cary Elwes To Get Presidential In FX’s ‘Very Young Frankenstein’ Pilot
EXCLUSIVE: Cary Elwes (Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Saw) is nearing a deal to join FX‘s Very Young Frankenstein pilot, which we understand has received a pilot order, sources tell Deadline. Sources say he will play the President of the United States.
Very Young Frankenstein is inspired by Mel Brooks‘ classic 1974 film Young Frankenstein. Brooks is executive producing the FX project alongside a trio of creatives from FX’s What We Do in the Shadows: Stefani Robinson, who would serve as writer and showrunner; Taika Waititi, who would direct the pilot; and Garrett Basch. Also executive producing are Brooks’ producing partner Kevin Salter (History of the World, Part 2, Spaceballs 2) and Young Frankenstein producer Michael Gruskoff. 20th Television is the studio.
Details regarding the plot are under wraps.
Reps from FX and 20th Television declined to comment.
Young Frankenstein is a parody of the horror genre, drawing inspiration from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein. The horror-comedy starred Gene Wilder, who co-wrote the screenplay with Brooks, as Frederick Frankenstein, grandson of mad scientist Victor Frankenstein. It’s worth noting that the younger Frankenstein pronounces the family name as “Fronkensteen” to distinguish himself from his ancestor, whose unorthodox experiments have disgraced the American scientist.
When Frederick inherits his grandfather’s Transylvania castle, he wants to prove Victor was not insane. Alongside Igor (pronounced as “Eye-gore”), whose grandfather assisted Victor in the lab, the pair attempts to save the muddied Frankenstein name by creating their own monster. What could go wrong?
The pilot will be a reunion of sorts for Elwes and executive producer Mel Brooks, who collaborated on the 1993 comedy Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Elwes led the film as Robin Hood, while Brooks co-wrote the script and directed.
The black-and-white film also famously starred Peter Boyle as the monster, Marty Feldman as Igor, Cloris Leachman as Frau Blücher, Madeline Kahn as Frederick’s fiancée, and Teri Garr as Inga, among many others. Brooks played multiple characters, including voicing Victor Frankenstein.
Young Frankenstein is the latest of Brooks’ classics to be adapted in the 2020s. Hulu gave his 1981 film, History of the World, Part 1, a sequel sketch comedy TV series treatment with History of the World, Part 2, starring Ike Barinholtz, Wanda Sykes, and Nick Kroll, with Brooks serving as narrator and executive producer. Brooks’ out-of-this-world 1987 feature Spaceballs has a sequel film in the works.
