Japan’s Toei Animation will launch its new animated feature Hypergalactic, which boasts story and characters co-created by noted artist Naoto Oshima (Sonic the Hedgehog) and Joseph Chou (Blade Runner 2022, Ghost in the Shell, Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim) at the European Film Market in Berlin (Feb 15-21). The English-language animated family feature is directed by David N. Weiss (Shrek 2, The Smurfs and Smurfs 2) and is billed as Toei’s biggest CGI film to date. Hypergalactic follows Toei’s major anime hits including the Japan Academy Prize-winner The First Slam Dunk, which became the fifth highest grossing anime film of all time ($270 million) and the animated feature, One Piece Film: Red, which has grossed over $246.5 million worldwide.
Hypergalactic will feature the voice talents of Adam Devine, Elsie Fisher, J.K. Simmons and Sam Richardson. Charades is handling worldwide distribution rights to the film and will launch sales at EFM in Berlin this month alongside Iwashina Corporation founder Kevin Iwashina, who is also an advisor to Toei Animation. Currently in post-production, Hypergalactic is produced by Yoshi Ikezawa from Toei Animation and the executive producers are Kozo Morishita, Katsuhiro Takagi and Tim Kwok.
“With Hypergalactic, the hugely talented Game Designer Oshima has created a multicultural adventure tale of epic scale – combining memorable global characters with a Japanese Anime aesthetic and a Western approach to storytelling,” said Yoshi Ikezawa, Toei Animation producer. “We look forward to delivering our brand of quality animation to broader global audiences beyond our existing loyal and committed fan base.”
The official synopsis is as follows: “Hypergalactic follows an adventurous teenage girl (Fisher) and her baby brother in the not-so-distant future, after they liberate the forgotten protector of Earth, Ohkan (Devine), in the hopes that he can help reunite them with their missing parents. Together, the unlikely trio sets off on a surprise-filled journey, discovering the deeper meaning of family along the way.”
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