Henry Gilroy (“Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” “The Amazing Spiderman” “How to Train Your Dragon”) has joined animated movie project “Young Captain Nemo” as its producer, showrunner, and screenwriter, as producers Rainshine Entertainment and Malaysia’s Animasia broaden out the venture into a movie series franchise.
The project, based on the children’s literature franchise “Young Captain Nemo,” was announced last year with Jeffrey Reddick, screenwriter and creator of the “Final Destination” movie franchise, adapting the books for the screen.
The film will be self-produced by Rainshine, and Animasia, which will both invest from their balance sheets and raise money from a wide variety of investors, instead of going to a large film fund or a streaming platform for finance. The budget was not disclosed.
Casting for the voice actors has begun and major names could be settled within three months, ahead of production of the first film which is expected to begin in the fall of this year. Delivery of a completed film is anticipated some 18-24 months from now.
The first of a trilogy of animated action-adventure films, “Young Captain Nemo” focuses on Gabriel Nemo, a young modern-day descendant of Jules Verne’s famous literary figure Captain Nemo in classic novel “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” Gabriel and friends make use of the advanced Nemotech submarine, to explore, face sea monsters and keep the earth’s oceans safe.
Producers on the first film are Donna Ebbs, Edmund Chan, Gilroy, Neeraj Bhargava, and Saahil Bhargava. Executive producers are: Ah Loong, Reddick, Kiran Nithyanand, Marlene Sharp, Pranab Punj, and Ryan Gagerman. Benjamin Grubbs is set as consulting producer.
The second and third films will follow in quick succession and be completed over the next 3-4 years.
The underlying novels were written by best-selling author Jason Henderson and published by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan. In May 2020, Rainshine’s kids and family unit Kinsane Entertainment acquired the movie adaptation rights.
Rainshine, which pitches itself as one of the first Indian content studios targeting the global market, has offices in Mumbai, Los Angeles and London. Kuala Lumpur and Los Angeles-based-Animasia has produced animation under contract for major groups including Disney Channel, Netflix, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon, and made “The Nine Lives of Claw” and “Bola Kampung” under its own banner.
The film is part of a larger plan to build the “Young Captain Nemo” brand into a franchise that includes a film trilogy, three seasons of spin-off TV series, a metaverse property, NFTs, social causes, P2E gaming, Web 3.0 interactions/DAOs, music and soundtracks, merchandise and live commerce.
The companies called the franchise a “Web 3 initiative,” which uses a blockchain platform (RainBlox) to provide transparency across from funding, production and distribution.
“Young Captain Nemo empowers audiences to take on a larger role than just being a fan. They can now watch, play, invest, buy and vote – connecting with a 360 immersive experience – seamlessly interwoven by blockchain,” said the companies in a statement.
“We’re very excited to showcase a young person of color as a protagonist in an animated franchise where kids from across the globe can see heroes who look just like them. Combining world-class talent with the best technology, we’re creating a one-of-a-kind experience where fans can own a piece of the franchise through our proprietary platform, RainBlox,” said Neeraj Bhargava, founder, chairman, and CEO of Rainshine. şişli escort