Toronto-based studio Arc Productions has made a pact with Dorado Media and Capital to help financing at least three CG-animated features and TV shows, says The Hollywood Reporter. The projects will be produced at the Toronto studio and their budgets will range from $30 million to $50 million.
The first feature is a 90-minute CG-animated feature based on Oscar Wilde’s short story The Canterville Ghost. Slated for a holiday 2014 release, film will be produced by London’s Melmoth Films and will showcase the voices of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, who used to be longtime collaborators during the days of A Bit of Fry and Laurie and Bertie and Wooster series. The story, which was first penned in 1887 has been adapted for the stage and screen many times. The plot centers on a family that moves into a house haunted by a tormented ghost, and whose daughter forms a friendship of sorts with the lost spirit.
Arc, which used to be known as Starz Animation Toronto, was sold in April 2011 to a Canadian investment group, with Starz retaining a minority stake.
“As the first project through the Dorado-Arc pipeline,” said Arc president Jeff Young, “The Canterville Ghost embodies all of the qualities we are looking for in an animated feature film and will yet again allow us to showcase our creative team who continue to perform brilliantly on worldwide brands such as Barbie, Halo and Thomas the Tank Engine.”
Canterville Ghost will be directed by Kim Burdon, with a score by Ennio Morricone (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; The Mission). In August, Arc also announced a slate deal with Tayrona for four CG animated features.
