‘Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet’ Gets US Release Date

By Darryn King | 03/26/2015 4:39 am | 3 Comments

GKIDS has announced the North American release date for the animated feature Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. Having had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014, the film will finally open in New York City and Los Angeles on August 7, with US and Canadian expansion in the following weeks.

Based on the iconic 20th-century work of spiritual and philosophical prose poetry, Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet was written and directed by director Roger Allers (The Lion King, Open Season) and has been described as a passion project for actress-producer Salma Hayek. The film features the voices of Hayek, Liam Neeson, Quvenzhané Wallis, John Krasinski, Frank Langella and Alfred Molina.

Reflecting the individual essays of Gibran’s original work—the book is divided into chapters “On Freedom,” “On Good & Evil,” “On Love,” and so on—but also Gibran’s personal love of drawing, the film’s animated segments have been designed and directed, in mostly hand-drawn style, by a diverse roster of artists: Tomm Moore (Song of the Sea, The Secret of Kells), Joan Gratz (Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase), Bill Plympton (Guard Dog, Cheatin’), Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues), Joann Sfar (The Rabbi’s Cat), Paul and Gaetan Brizzi (“Firebird Suite” in Fantasia 2000), Michal Socha (Chick and one of the greatest all-time Simpsons openings) and Mohammed Harib (Freej). The wraparound sequences directed by Allers are toon-shaded computer animation.