Aardman Animation prides itself on telling their original stories through traditional stop-motion animation. It should suit them, then, to go back and look at what they believe went down during the world's first game of soccer. The British animation studio announced such a tale is the focus of their latest movie, Early Man.
Deadline reports on the new movie. Nick Park, who helped helm the original Wallace & Gromit skits which made the studio a household name in the States and U.K. as well as their first full-length feature Chicken Run, directs the new movie. It's been ten years since his last film, the Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, co-directed by Steve Box.
Early Man comes from a screenplay by Mark Burton and John O'Farrell. The former co-directed and co-wrote Aardman's upcoming Shaun the Sheep Movie, and also helped write The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. O'Farrell, meanwhile, was involved with the pen on Chicken Run.
Early Man's announcement comes from Cannes. StudioCanal fully finances and handle sales for this new movie. StudioCanal also helps Aardman as they work on their China release for Shaun the Sheep. Also on board for this new animated feature is the BFI. The budget is projected to be around $50 million.
"This is a very ambitious project, with a lot more characters than Shaun,” Oliver Courson, StudioCanal's chief executive, said. “The film is not about football but it is an important component. Nick and the Aardman guys will come to Cannes. This is a very ambitious project for the independent market. It’s also extremely funny.”
Shaun the Sheep comes the U.S. on August 7. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it earned extremely enthusiastic marks.
Image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFGoff.com