I'm not at all surprised that people are buying up rights to a Besson film right now but I am rather baffled that it is this one rather than Angel-A ...
It has just been announced that the Weinstein Company have picked up all rights to Luc Besson's animated feature Arthur and the Minimoys for all English speaking territories. No word on release plans yet, but with them announcing it this early I expect they'll stick close to the French release this Christmas.
Read on for the press release.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (March 2, 2006) – The Weinstein Company is proud to announce that it has acquired rights in all English speaking territories to the CGI animated family film “Arthur and the Minimoys,” based on Luc Besson’s best selling children’s book by the same title. The screenplay was adapted by Besson, the award winning writer/director/producer behind such movies as "The Fifth Element," "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" and "La Femme Nikita." Besson is directing the partly live action, featuring Freddie Highmore and Mia Farrow, and partly animated film, with voices by Madonna, Snoop Dogg, and David Bowie. The film is currently in production, being produced by EuropaCorp.
10-year-old Arthur has a lot on his plate: a real estate developer is about to snap up his grandma’s home… and there’s no way Arthur’s going to hang around for his parents or grandparents to sort out the problem. Maybe the solution lies in his grandpa’s treasure, which is hidden somewhere on the “other side” in the land of the Minimoys. The creatures that inhabit this world are just a tenth of an inch tall and live in perfect harmony with their environment.
Arthur ventures into this world of the Minimoys, where he meets Princess Selenia and her brother Betameche. Together they set off to look for the treasure that will save his grandma. An action-packed adventure ensues, full of pitfalls and intrigues, all the way up to the forbidden city ruled by the evil M the Malicious. Arthur’s journey in the Minimoys universe reveals that sometimes the smallest heroes make the biggest difference.
“We are thrilled to be bringing this exciting adventure story to the big screen,” said Harvey Weinstein. “’Arthur’ is an enchanting and heroic tale and will be enjoyed by family audiences everywhere.”
Pierre-Ange stated, "Arthur and the Minimoys is clearly the most ambitious, creative and unique project EuropaCorp has ever produced. Luc Besson has spent 3 1/2 years to create and direct this movie, with the same energy and passion that he provided to “The Fifth Element,” and more. We all at EuropaCorp are thrilled and most delighted to know this treasured project is being carried by such a creative and dedicated team such as The Weinstein Company.”
Luc Besson’s 2003 book, a huge success in France, captured the hearts of young readers. There are four books in Besson’s series including “Arthur and the Forbidden City,” which continues Arthur’s heroic story, “Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard” and “Arthur and the War of the Two Worlds” which gives an end to this journey. The publishing rights of the first two tomes are handled by Harper Collin’s Children Books.
For The Weinstein Company, the project will be overseen by co-president of production, Michael Cole, and director of production and development, Michael Schaefer.
Maeva Gatineau, executive vice president of Europe acquisitions and co-production, brought the film to The Weinstein Company. Michael Cole and Barry Littman, executive vice president of business and legal affairs, negotiated the deal on behalf of The Weinstein Company and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam and Luc Besson negotiated on behalf of EuropaCorp.
Weinstein, keep a release date? For an animated film? From another country? Not only won't this be out on time, it's guaranteed to be screwed up somehow when/if they do release it. Let's take a walk down memory lane...
PRINCESS MONONOKE - Delayed for years. Uncut only because Studio Ghibli held firm to their contract specifying "No Cuts", to quote the note attached to the samurai sword Hayao Miyazaki sent Harvey Weinstein as a threat, um, I mean gift. Dubbed only release in theatrical, and almost on DVD too, until a massive outcry resulted in a last-minute delay to re-author the DVD with a Japanese language track and English subtitles.
THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER/ARABIAN KNIGHTS - The greatest travesty in the history of animation and quite possibly the history of cinema, the rape of ROGER RABBIT animation director Richard Williams' decades-in-production magnum opus. This was the man's life's work, his soul itself, ripped out and turned into a musical ALADDIN clone. Not all of the blame belongs to Miramax here, but there's more than enough blood on their hands regarding this fiasco.
GANDAHAR/LIGHTYEARS - FANTASTIC PLANET director Rene Laloux's animated science fiction GANDAHAR came to the US via Miramax and picked up a new title, LIGHTYEARS, and a typical "all star" voice cast. Issac Asimov is credited with the English script, and the American version has an additional director credited, the noted co-auteur of PLAYING FOR KEEPS himself, Harvey Weinstein. I wonder how much the LIGHTYEARS version I have seen even has to do with the original GANDAHAR version, all things considered.
Lately they've released the atrocious-looking HOODWINKED and a re-worked version of 2005's THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT, called SPRUNG! THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT (before they jettisoned most of the UK voices, rewrote the dialogue to include lots of SHREK-style pop culture jokes, and changed the name to DOOGAL.)
So this announcement regarding Besson's animation coming here through Weinstein Company doesn't exactly give me a good feeling - more like a familiar, sinking, dreadful, oh-no-not-again sort of feeling.