Having made a bundle with vfx-heavy pics such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the upcoming The Golden Compass, New Line Cinema is reportedly making the move to fully CG-animated fare. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the major independent distributor is acquiring the $60 million CG feature Planet 51 from Madrid-based Ilion Animation Studios. The deal was struck with Handmade Films Int’l., which co-financed and co-produced the pic with llion.
Previously known as PlanetOne, the family film has been retitled Planet 51 in reference to the famous American military research facility known as Area 51. The alien invasion story with a twist takes place on an alien world that bares a striking resemblance to suburban American in the 1950s. In this tale, the invader from outer space is an Earthling astronaut who causes panic when his spacecraft lands.
The movie was Penned by Shrek writer Joe Stillman, and is directed by Jorge Blanco, the lead artist on the Commandos video game series created by Ilion’s parent company, Pyro Studios. Javier Abad and Marcos Martinez, who worked with Blanco on Commandos, are listed as co-directors on the film.
Pyro has been simultaneously producing a video game based on the flick, which New Line plans to release sometime in 2009. A-list actors are being sought to voice the lead roles.
The movie is being produced by Ilion’s Ignacio Perez Dolest, while Handmade’s Guy Collins and Michael Ryan handle co-producer duties, along with former Nickelodeon head Albie Hecht and Lola Film president Andres Vicente Gomez. Stillman, who collaborated on scripts for all three Shrek films, earned an Emmy nomination for his work on the Fox TV series King of the Hill, and also worked with Mike Judge on Beavis and Butthead.
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