by Kevin Coll || FUSEDFILM.COM JAN 2010

Who ever would have thought that the master of classic mafia violence would ever foray himself into the world of sophisticated children’s literature? Well it seems Martin Scorcese is taking a page out of Spike Jonze’s and Wes Anderson’s book by taking on Brian Selznick’s best-selling children’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret set in 1930s Paris.

I doubt we will see any baseball bats hitting craniums in this picture as it is based on a popular piece of kids literature. The story centers on a 12-year-old orphan named Hugo, who lives in a train station and must finish what his late father started by solving the mystery of a broken robot.

It seems like the pieces fit for Scorcese to settle with this movie being that the producer is Graham king, who worked with him on The Departed plus the screenwriter is John Logan who wrote The Aviator, all films that Scorcese directed.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which won the Randolph Caldecott Medal in 2008 for the most distinguished American picture book for children, is a mammoth tome at 533 pages. More than half of the pages contain elaborate pictures that the New York Times described as looking like movie storyboard frames. Ice Age helmer Chris Wedge was previously attached to direct The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which was a long-running Times best-seller. No offense to Wedge but Scorcese directing this is a step up for the production, not just his name which will resonate with adults but his visual style will really make a great movie.

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