Paramount Animation president Mireille Soria told The Hollywood Reporter that the studio is working on a new animated movie featuring all five members of beloved 90s group the Spice Girls. The studio, which has mostly female senior staff, is in early development on a Spice Girls movie among a slate eyeing two releases a year, starting in 2020.
Melanie Brown (Scary), Emma Bunton (Baby), Melanie Chisholm (Sporty), Geri Halliwell (Ginger) and Victoria Beckham (Posh) are all on board. Simon Fuller is producing and Karen McCullah and Kiwi Smith writing the screenplay. The animated feature will include Spice Girls classics as well as new songs.
In May 2020, the studio will release The SpongeBob Movie: It’s a Wonderful Sponge has added Awkwafina and Reggie Watts to its voice cast, with Cyndi Lauper (and her co-writer Rob Hyman) working on original songs for the film. The film, which looks at the origins of SpongeBob, is described as a “love letter to SpongeBob’s beloved creator Steven Hillenburg (who passed away last November), the fans, and the residents of Bikini Bottom. Tim Hill is directing and Ryan Harris and producing (with choreography by Mia Michaels). This is the first CG-animated SpongeBob movie, and will feature a score by Hans Zimmer and original song by Ali Dee. Then in July, the studio will offer the graphic novel adaptation Rumble ( formerly titled Monster on a Hill), directed by Hamish Grieve and a partnership with ReelFX and Walden Media.
Paramount Animation has has also made a first-look deal with the joint venture between Imagine Entertainment and Sydney-based animation studio Animal Logic (Happy Feet), which already has two movies in development, one of which Imagine’s Ron Howard plans to direct. Other titles include a Chinese American fantasy adaptation The Tiger’s Apprentice, due Feb. 11, 2022 will be joined in the summer by Jersey Crabs, a Grease-like musical set on the Jersey Shore where sea crab tourists clash with land crab townies. The studio is also in early development on a Mighty Mouse project planned as a hybrid live action/animation movie based on the classic property. Jon & Erich Hoeber are on board as writers, and Karen Rosenfelt and Bob Cort as producers.
“We are all about a diverse slate of movies, but the common denominator being quality, story, heart,” Soria told the Reporter.
Source; The Hollywood Reporter
