HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — In a modern, 3D family comedy take on the classic tale, Jack Black is Lemuel Gulliver, a lowly mailroom clerk at a New York newspaper. After Gulliver bluffs his way into an assignment writing about the Bermuda Triangle, he goes there only to be transported to an undiscovered land, Lilliput. In this fantastical new world, Gulliver is, at last, a bigger-than-life figure — in size and ego – especially after he starts telling tall tales, taking credit for his world’s greatest inventions, and placing himself at the center of its most historic events. Gulliver’s position is enhanced even further when he leads his new friends in a daring battle against their longtime enemies. But when Gulliver loses it all and puts the Lilliputians in peril, he must find a way to undo the damage. Ultimately, Gulliver becomes a true giant among men only when he learns that it’s how big you are on the inside that counts.
This new incarnation of Gulliver’s Travels began with a call from producer John Davis to Jack Black. Shortly thereafter, Black was aboard as the titular hero and as an executive producer on the project.
“I jumped at the chance to be a part of this,” says Black. “It was irresistible: Me…Gulliver…traveling….being a giant in another world. The elements were all there to make a big movie.”
When Jonathan Swift penned his novel in the 18th century, the world hadn’t yet been fully explored, so the idea of an island populated by tiny people didn’t seem that far-fetched. Black, Davis, director Rob Letterman, co-screenwriter Joe Stillman and co-producer (and Davis Entertainment executive) Brian Manis endeavored to make the story relevant and fun for contemporary audiences. They briefly considered setting Gulliver’s adventure on a distant planet before deciding to have Gulliver travel through an “inter-dimensional portal” – not to a distant planet but to an alternate world that juxtaposed modern-day and old-school sensibilities.
“One of our principal goals was that audiences would always believe in Lilliput,” says Davis. “We wanted to put you right there with Gulliver.”
