Director Tim Burton on ‘Wednesday’: ‘I Felt It Was Written for Me’

Film director Tim Burton greets fans from a balcony during the Lucca Comics and Games for the premiere of Netflix's new series 'Wednesday' in Lucca, Italy, October 31, 2022. (Reuters)
Film director Tim Burton greets fans from a balcony during the Lucca Comics and Games for the premiere of Netflix's new series 'Wednesday' in Lucca, Italy, October 31, 2022. (Reuters)
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Director Tim Burton on ‘Wednesday’: ‘I Felt It Was Written for Me’

Film director Tim Burton greets fans from a balcony during the Lucca Comics and Games for the premiere of Netflix's new series 'Wednesday' in Lucca, Italy, October 31, 2022. (Reuters)
Film director Tim Burton greets fans from a balcony during the Lucca Comics and Games for the premiere of Netflix's new series 'Wednesday' in Lucca, Italy, October 31, 2022. (Reuters)

Filmmaker Tim Burton steps into the macabre and supernatural world of the Addams Family with new series "Wednesday".

The Netflix show, released on Nov. 23, is based on Wednesday Addams, usually seen as a child in previous Addams Family shows or movies, but now at a high school for outcasts, trying to harness her psychic powers and being a teenager.

Burton, known for mixing the weird and charming in films which include "Edward Scissorhands" and "Big Fish", directs the first four of eight episodes of the new series.

"I feel like it was written for me because...I felt like I was her as a boy in school," Burton told Reuters at the Lucca Comics and Games pop culture festival in Italy.

"That feeling about family, school, technology, therapy, it just spoke to me...so it was very easy to identify with all of that. The Addams Family has been done very well in different ways. I just like the idea of focusing on Wednesday and seeing her as a teenager."

The series addresses trauma and mental health with Wednesday, played by Jenna Ortega, visiting a therapist - scenes Burton said were important to him personally.

"I still have issues...I feel very lucky...I had an outlet, whether it's drawing or making films, to sort of exercise some of those demons and deal with some of those issues," Burton said.

"And so seeing her...and how she deals with it was important to me."

"Wednesday" stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman as Wednesday's parents, Morticia and Gomez Addams, while Christina Ricci, who portrayed Wednesday in two 1990s films, plays teacher Miss Thornhill.

Ricci previously worked with Burton on "Sleepy Hollow", alongside Johnny Depp, a frequent Burton collaborator.

Asked if he would work again with Depp, who is trying to rebuild his career after an ugly defamation fight with his ex-wife Amber Heard, Burton said: "If the right thing was around then sure."

"I don’t really have any I’m going to work with my ex-wife or my friends or this or that because...I just do things because I want to do them."



Disney Brings the Grid, and the Light Bikes, with ‘Tron: Ares’ Footage at Comic-Con

 Atmosphere at the "Tron: Ares" panel in Hall H of the convention center during Comic Con International in San Diego, California on July 25, 2025. (AFP)
Atmosphere at the "Tron: Ares" panel in Hall H of the convention center during Comic Con International in San Diego, California on July 25, 2025. (AFP)
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Disney Brings the Grid, and the Light Bikes, with ‘Tron: Ares’ Footage at Comic-Con

 Atmosphere at the "Tron: Ares" panel in Hall H of the convention center during Comic Con International in San Diego, California on July 25, 2025. (AFP)
Atmosphere at the "Tron: Ares" panel in Hall H of the convention center during Comic Con International in San Diego, California on July 25, 2025. (AFP)

The Grid took over Comic-Con on Friday, bringing the stars of the new "Tron: Ares" films to unveil footage and reveal the story behind the franchise's third movie.

The film stars Jared Leto, Jeff Bridges, Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith as the story brings the virtual environment of the Grid, complete with light bikes, into the real world.

Disney showed off several minutes of footage, including a light bike chase scene in the real world and another in the red-hued Grid. Propelling the onscreen action is a propulsive Nine Inch Nails soundtrack.

"It’s fun to see it on the big screen for the first time," said director Joachim Rønning.

Disney turned the Hall H panel into a spectacle, with red lasers filling the room and characters in suits with red lights entering the massive hall.

Asked what excited her about joining the "Tron" franchise, Lee responded: "I just wanted to ride a light cycle."

Friday's panel ended with the premiere of the music video for "As Alive as You Need Me to Be," the first Nine Inch Nails song from the soundtrack.

"Tron" has never been in the top tier of sci-fi franchises. The original 1982 film starring Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a man sucked into a computer vortex known as the Grid, was admired for its ground-breaking concept and effects, and was a modest hit with moderately good reviews.

Perhaps more importantly, it won a cult following and has been maintained enough in cultural memory to remain a valuable property for Disney.

The 2010 film "Tron: Legacy," starring Bridges and Garrett Hedlund, made more than $400 million globally. A TV show that followed, "Tron: Uprising," lasted just one season.

Norwegian director Joachim Rønning has helmed other Disney franchise films: 2017’s "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" and 2019’s "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil."

Leto and Bridges are both Oscar winners, and Rønning is an Oscar nominee.