Shawn Mendes’ ‘Stage Fright and Anxieties’ Made Him the Perfect Fit for ‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile,’ Says Producer
variety.comAntonio Ferme editor Almost 60 years after famous children’s author Bernard Waber published “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile,” the story is finally getting a live-action adaptation.
The 1965 picture book, a sequel to “The House on East 88th Street,” follows a saltwater crocodile navigating the streets of New York City.
At the worldwide red carpet premiere on Sunday, the cast and crew discussed the process of threshing out a grander narrative based on the ten books in the “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” series. “It’s like a 17-page book, so the room for growth and expansion is tenfold,” producer Kevin Vafi told Variety at AMC Lincoln Square 13 in New York. “It’s finding those homage points that you really want to do, like the note in the attic or meeting Lyle in the bathtub with Mrs.
Primm — all these little callbacks to the book.” The feature film was directed by comedy duo Will Speck and Josh Gordon, best known for “Blades of Glory” and “Office Christmas Party.” The two hinted at the possibility of building a larger franchise around “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.” Gordon emphasized that it wouldn’t come from a “cynical” place, while Speck suggested that “there’s a whole era of kids’ books from that era that we could adapt.” “[‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’] was a big part of my childhood and our children’s childhood,” Speck said. “What’s exciting is that [the book] is known by the people that know it, but it’s not so widely popular in terms of IP — yet.
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