Credit: Sony PicturesAn iconic part of acclaimed director Tim Burton has been destroyed by lightning and subsequent fire. The set for the town of Spectre from Big Fish (2003), Burton’s Southern Gothic fantasy film with Ewan McGregor, was struck by lightning this week, and one of its buildings completely burnt down (per The Hollywood Reporter).
Fortunately, no one was injured in the lightning strike and subsequent fire, because the “town of Spectre” featured in Big Fish is a wholly artificial place. The set was built for the film on Alabama’s Jackson Lake Island and has operated as a tourist attraction ever since, inhabited solely by a flock of goats.
Credit: Sony Pictures
Reports indicate that none of the goats were injured, thankfully.
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Big Fish stars Ewan McGregor as Edward Bloom, a traveling salesman in mid-century America with a fondness for telling a tall tale and adventures. The movie itself is structured as a series of vignettes told by the elderly Edward (Albert Finney) to his estranged son (Billy Crudup), his son’s new wife (Marion Cotillard), and pretty much anyone who will listen.
The movie was adapted from the novel Big Fish by Daniel Wallace and co-starred Steve Buscemi, Helen Bonham Carter, Tim Burton favorite Danny DeVito, and a very young Miley Cyrus. While Big Fish did not become a record-breaking blockbuster like Burton’s Batman films with Michael Keaton, it has developed a cult audience and critical praise for its nested storytelling, philosophical air, and elaborate sets.
The town of Spectre is one of those, although it could have been mistaken to be a real-life Deep South town. Early in the movie, Ewan McGregor visits the town, which is a brightly lit, vibrant community that welcomes him to stay and begin a life there. A later visit sees the town having gone to wreck and ruin, overgrown with trees (and much harsher lighting).
Credit: Sony Pictures
It is thematically fitting that the fake town of Spectre would one day become a ghost town inhabited only by goats, considering its name and its general vibe. The set is a masterpiece of design and the generally gothic Tim Burton aesthetic, which makes it a pity that it was damaged in any way.
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Currently, Tim Burton is working on season 2 of the acclaimed and extremely popular Netflix series Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega as a teenage version of the Addams Family character. Hopefully, he has time to spare a thought for the town of Spectre.