Hansel and Gretel. In 3-D. It sounds like your traditional family animated fare. Then you see this press release and realise that it's in live action. And that it's being produced by Michael Bay.

Yes, the Transformers director is muscling in on the Brothers Grimm fairytale via his production company, The Institute. There's no script yet, but that's hardly important. Especially when it's already scheduled to start shooting in early 2011. The only person locked in place so far is Avatar's creature designer Joseph C Pepe, who will be creating monsters based on "German mythology" - clearly a well-established feature of the Hansel and Gretel story.

This is obviously not to be confused with Will Ferrell's announcement that he would be tackling the same source material as a horror comedy, titled Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. Such a silly take on the tale wouldn't at all match Michael Bay's serious approach. After all, The Institute's motto is "Where Brand Science Meets Great Storytelling". And Michael Bay always manages at least 50% of that statement.