Kenneth Branagh To Voice ‘Goblin,’ David Mikalson’s A24 Hybrid Film; Skyler Gisondo Circling

EXCLUSIVE: The most unlikely project in town has just gotten Kenneth Branagh to commit, and Superman‘s Jimmy Olsen, Skyler Gisondo, circling the lead role. This is Goblinwhich Deadline revealed in July. The project, called Ted meets E.T. was created by David Mikalson. His script circulated around Hollywood and while some hemmed and hawed — the micro-budget picture is raunchy and the green-colored title character is anatomically correct, A24 jumped right in. The others waited because Mikalson was directing a small, proof of concept version in Kentucky. That modest plan ended when A24 committed to the $6 million or so budget Mikalson needed to do it right.

As I wrote on July, Mikalson truly came out of nowhere; he’s a native of Washington State who dropped out of film school and started making short films. After he hatched the idea to make an outrageous buddy comedy about a goblin, using a practical puppet and operating outside the Hollywood system, the script got him representation at WME, Kaplan/Perrone and attorney Chris Abramson. They sent out what became the most delectable read of that moment.

Branagh, who won the Oscar for his Belfast script, will provide the voice for the creature, and Gisondo [who followed Superman with Focker-in-Law] is in talks to play the creature’s pal. How wildly creative is Goblin creator and writer/director Mikalson? Take a look at the cake he commissioned with Marc Gravelle at Cake Art in West Hollywood, to present to his reps as thanks for making his dream come true. Here is that cake, and my only advice at the time to the cake eaters was to suggest a frontal approach: