Open Road Films has acquired all US rights to 3D CG family feature Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad, from Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s AMBI Media Group. The pick-up was announced by Open Road Films’ CEO, Tom Ortenberg. The distributor is planning a wide release for 2018.
“Tom and the Open Road team have a keen understanding of the audience that will love this film and are astute at reaching them in unique ways, resulting in great connectivity with viewers and a mutually beneficial relationship for our companies,” said Iervolino of AMBI. “They have been down this road before, and hit home runs with films like The Nut Job, so we’re excited that Arctic Justice is in their expert and very skilled hands. It really is the perfect home for this movie.”
Arctic Justice features an A-list voice cast lead by Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Heidi Klum, John Cleese, James Franco, Angelica Huston and Omar Sy. Animation on the project is underway at AMBI’s Toronto-based AIC Studios; Arctic Justice is fully financed and being produced by AMBI and its principals, Iervolino and Bacardi.
The deal was negotiated on behalf of Open Road Films by Ortenberg, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, Elliott Kleinberg, and SVP Acquisitions, Lejo Pet; and by Iervolino on behalf of AMBI Media Group.
Synopsis:
Swifty (Jeremy Renner), an arctic fox, dreams of becoming one the famous Top Dogs, a team of huskies that deliver packages for the Arctic Blast Delivery Service. In the Arctic, everyday trips can quickly turn into epic journeys, which make the Top Dogs the Arctic’s everyday heroes.
In an effort to prove himself, Swifty secretly commandeers a delivery sled to takes a mysterious package to a secret, icy fortress, where he comes face to face with Doc Walrus (John Cleese), a blubbery evil genius who walks around on robotic legs, and commands a loyal army of oddly polite puffins. Swifty stumbles upon Doc Walrus’ evil plan to drill to the center of the Earth to unleash enough lava to melt the polar ice caps in order to flood the planet and become be king of the world.
Now, Swifty has to enlist the help of his friends: PB (Alec Baldwin), an introverted polar bear; Lemmy (James Franco), a scatter-brained rock and roll albatross; Sal (Omar Sy) and Weez (Heidi Klum), two conspiracy theorist otters; and Jade, a red fox, who’s a tough as nails mechanic that Swifty has a secret crush on. This ragtag team has to band together and overcome their differences if they’re going to stop Doc Walrus and his army of Puffins from destroying the world.
