Having tasted success with the independent CG-animated Hoodwinked, The Weinstein Co. has plunged deeper into the animated feature market. Company co-founder Harvey Weinstein today announced the acquisition of Exodus Film Group’s CG comedy feature, Igor. The Weinstein Co. will handle North American distribution for the family flick that puts a new spin on the mad scientist genre.
Written by Chris McKenna (FOX’s American Dad), Igor is the story of a mad scientist’s hunchbacked lab assistant who has big dreams of becoming a scientist in his own right by winning top prize at the annual Evil Science Fair. Currently in preproduction, the feature is based on the upcoming Exous short Igor: Unholy Frijoles, which boasts the voices of Christian Slater, Jay Leno, Steve Buscemi and John Cleese. It’s not yet known if any of the cast members will return for the feature, which has no director attached.
Igor is being produced by John D. Eraklis and exec produced by seasoned animation exec Max Howard, who has collaborated on such animated blockbusters as Diney’s The Lion King and Aladdin, and Warner Bros.’ Space Jam and The Iron Giant.
On Feb. 24, The Weinstein Co. will usher into theaters the CG feature Doogal, a re-worked version of the U.K. release Sprung: The Magic Roundabout. Other upcoming projects include a computer-generated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the animated Opus, Cricket in Times Square and Hood Vs. Evil, the sequel to Hoodwinked.
In addition to Igor, Exodus is developing the animated movies The Hero of Color City and Amarillo Armadillo, which Howard will exec produce. Read our interview with Howard on Exodus and Igor at www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=4679.
Leave a Reply