Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group has signed a first-look deal with Locksmith Animation, the studio behind Ron’s Gone Wrong, to develop and produce animated features for worldwide distribution. Locksmith Animation is an independent producer of animated features and series and was behind the 20th Century Studios feature Ron’s Gone Wrong. The new deal is part of Warner Bros’ comprehensive strategy to revitalize its approach to animated features through key partnerships, creative development, and quality storytelling. Under terms of the pact, the Locksmith team will develop and produce animated features for worldwide distribution.
About Locksmith Animation
Locksmith Animation is a British CGI animation film studio that produces high-end computer-animated family films. The studio was founded by Aardman Animations collaborators Sarah Smith and Julie Lockhart with the financial backing of Elisabeth Murdoch in 2014. Locksmith bills itself as “the UK’s only dedicated high-end CG feature animation studio dedicated to making films for a global family audience”. The studio has a deal with Double Negative (now known as DNEG) to provide the CGI animation for Locksmith’s films. Locksmith Animation is an independent producer of animated features and series and was behind the 20th Century Studios feature Ron’s Gone Wrong.
The Upcoming Projects
The first two projects slated under this deal are Bad Fairies and The Lunar Chronicles.
Bad Fairies
Bad Fairies is a subversive musical comedy set in contemporary London, which focuses on a badass gang of fairies who break every rule in the book. Deborah Frances-White, creator and host of podcast The Guilty Feminist, is writing the screenplay, and Megan Nicole Dong, creator and director of Netflix’s animated musical series Centaurworld, is attached to direct. The artists and storytellers at Locksmith Animation are among the most inspired and inventive in the industry]. There is no information available on the release date for the Bad Fairies animated movie.
The Lunar Chronicles
The second project under the deal is The Lunar Chronicles, based on Marissa Meyer’s bestselling novels. A sci-fi twist on Grimms’ Fairy Tales, the feature project centers on four young women who launch a rebellion against the tyrannical Queen of the moon and soar through the stars while fighting to take charge of their own destinies. Kalen Egan & Travis Sentell, writers on the Amazon series Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, are attached to write. Megan Nicole Dong, creator and director of Netflix’s animated musical series Centaurworld, is attached to direct.
