Tim Burton Eyed Michael Jackson For House Of Wax

Tim Burton had brought up the idea of Frankenweenie long before he finally was given the go-ahead. Development for the stop motion animated film dates back to late 2005, but didn't finally come out until recently. He went on to direct Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows before his latest time in the director's chair. But the hold-off with Frankenweenie begs a follow-up question: What other ideas did the Scissorhands filmmaker ever have that didn't make it to the big screen? Apparently the answer is Michael Jackson.

Speaking with Yahoo! Movies, U.K., Burton, who received an award along with partner Helena Bonham Carter at the recently concluded London Film Festival where Frankenweenie had its European debut, said that he once proposed a pic starring the pop legend who died tragically in 2009.

"My favorite one was when I tried to convince the studio to make my idea of a musical version of House Of Wax with Michael Jackson," said Burton. "It was many years ago but that's the one that springs to mind."

Though a collaboration between the eccentric Thriller superstar and the off-beat Oscar-nominated filmmaker might have been a journey in filmmaking spectacle, the idea apparently had a quick demise.

"They did not go for that one at all," said Burton.

Re-made from a 1953 horror in 2005 starring Paris Hilton, the story follows a group of teens who are stranded near a strange wax museum. They soon begin to fight in a struggle to survive from becoming the exhibit's newest acquisition.

[Source: Yhaoo! Movies U.K.]