Goodfellas Animation Will Handle Sales On Andy Serkis’s Feature Animation Directorial Debut ‘Animal Farm’

Goodfellas Animation will handle international sales on Animal Farm, the feature animation directorial debut of actor Andy Serkis.

The 96-minute film will be introduced next week to buyers at the Cannes Film Market, and will premiere in a special screening at the Annecy animation festival next month.

Here’s what we know about the production:

• Directed by Serkis and written by Nick Stoller (Storks, Get Him to the Greek), Animal Farm is a modern adaptation of George Orwell’s classic novella about a group of farm animals who rebel against their human owners and take over the farm, only to face new challenges under the rule of a cunning pig named Napoleon.
• Voice cast includes Seth Rogen, Gaten Matarazzo, Steve Buscemi, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox, Kieran Culkin, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons, Andy Serkis, Kathleen Turner, and Iman Vellani.
• Goodfellas’ Vincent Maraval said in a statement:
  

  We are thrilled to board this original and modern take on George Orwell’s timeless tale, which we are convinced will appeal to children and adults alike. After handling such classics as The Little Prince with great success, we truly believe in the commercial potential of the film internationally. Goodfellas Animation pursues its tradition of promoting high quality, thought-provoking films accessible to all. We are grateful to Aniventure for trusting us with this incredible project.

• Goodfellas (formerly Wild Bunch International) is a powerhouse in film distribution. It has previously handled sales on Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli films including The Boy and the Heron, as well as animated films like The Little Prince, Red Turtle, and Summit of the Gods. It is also handling sales on Ugo Bienvenu’s Arco and Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han’s Little Amélie, two hotly-anticipated French animated features that are premiering this month at Cannes.
• Animal Farm was produced by Aniventure and Imaginarium. The film’s producers are Adam Nagle (Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank), Dave Rosenbaum (Riverdance: The Animated Adventure), Jonathan Cavendish (Bridget Jones’s Diary), and Serkis. Woody Harrelson and Matt Reeves (The Batman, Planet of the Apes) are executive producers. Animation was provided by Cinesite, and the animation was produced by Connie Nartonis Thompson (Frankenweenie); Cinesite is currently working on Brad Bird’s Skydance feature Ray Gunn.