Last year, we reported that DQ Entertainment and Method Films were developing a CG-animated series based on Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s enduring 1943 children’s book The Little Prince. Now we hear that French producers Aton Soumache (Renaissance, Cosmic Quantum Ray, Le Petit Nicholas) and Dimitri Rassam are also prepping a stereoscopic 3-D feature version of the classic.
Variety reports that they have secured the rights from the Exupery estate for a ’45 million ($60.8 million) movie, which means that the project will be one of the biggest European features of the year. The plotline will remain faithful to the book, which depicts the friendship between a downed pilot lost in the desert and a mysterious boy from another planet.
The feature will commence production next year. Saint-Exupery’s great-nephew Olivier d’Agay is also on board to advise the producers.”I’m a fan of Aton and Dimitri’s past films, notably Renaissance and The Children of Timpelbach, I’m confident they have the necessary experience and creativity to give The Little Prince the modern treatment it deserves.”
Soumache, who is also producing the animated TV series based on the property, told the trade that he wants the movie to have the same universal appeal, which is common in Pixar and Miyazaki movies.
