‘The Honey Wars’ Gets Animated for the Big Screen in Star-Studded Kavaleer Adaptation

Irish animation studio Kavaleer Productions is making its first foray into feature films, developing Sir John Boorman’s The Honey Wars into an animated family movie. The film has already assembled a stellar voice cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Vanessa Kirby, Patrick Stewart, Brendan Gleeson, Richard E Grant and Jon Voight.

Boorman is an award-winning British film director, producer and screenwriter best known for Hollywood hits such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Excalibur and Hope and Glory. He will be story consultant and executive producer on The Honey Wars film, which is currently in development with support from Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann’s ‘Creative Futures’ scheme. Boorman helped found Screen Ireland’s predecessor, The Irish Film Board, in 1981.

The Honey Wars is a 90-minute dark comedic fantasy from Boorman’s imagination, based on stories he told his children, and adapted for the screen by animation industry veterans Alan Keane & Andrew Kavanagh. The film invites the audience into a magical world where the remnants of an old conflict still shape the present in unexpected ways.

“I’m so delighted that this story of myth and magic is being brought to life and I hope that it captures the hearts and minds of many children as it did my own,” said Boorman.

In the heart of a forgotten forest, under the sprawling branches of the ancient Grandfather Tree, lies an incredible story waiting to be discovered.

Meet Hope, a young girl with an extraordinary secret — she is a ‘Seer,’ able to see the invisible threads that connect the magical world to our own. Recently uprooted by the loss of her mother and struggling to find her footing alongside her grieving father, Harry, Hope stumbles upon a bitter conflict rooted in the haunted past of two warring tribes: the Fairies and the Elves.

As Hope navigates her new life and her unique gift, she encounters Alfred, a mischievous exiled Elf, and Fiona, an outcast fairy with her own burdens. Together, these unlikely comrades uncover long-buried truths and begin the task of mending the wrongs of the past, laying the groundwork for an unthinkable reconciliation, and thwarting the machinations of the evil Esmerelda across a war-ravaged magical universe.

“Working on this film is a dream come true and we couldn’t be more honored and excited that this will be our first feature-length production,” said Kavanagh, Kavaleer Productions’ Founder & CEO. “The Honey Wars combines the scope of Lord of the Rings with the quirkiness of Coraline and is filled with sharply observed characters, wry humor and unexpected twists — everything you’d expect from a John Boorman story.”