In further news coming out of the Cannes Film Festival, Daily Variety reports that TF1 in France and Moviemax Italia in Italy have acquired rights to the upcoming CG-animated family feature Planet 51. Co-financed and co-produced by London-based Handmade Films and Madrid’s Ilion Animation Studios, the $60 million production has enlisted Hollywood talent and was picked up by New Line Cinema for North American distribution late last year.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Jessica Biel, Seann William Scott, Justin Long, John Cleese and Gary Oldman have signed on to lend their voices to the English-language version of Planet 51. The invasion story with a twist takes place on an alien world that bares a striking resemblance to suburban America in the 1950s. In this tale, the invader from outer space Earthling astronaut Capt. Chuck Baker (Johnson), causes panic when his spacecraft lands. In his efforts to avoid capture and get off the planet, Baker is befriended by a local boy named Lem (Long) and his goofy sidekick, Skiff (Scott). Biel will lend her voice to Neera, Lem’s love interest.
The movie was penned by Shrek writer Joe Stillman, and is directed by Jorge Blanco, the lead artist on the Commandos video game series created by Ilion’s parent company, Pyro Studios. Pyro has been simultaneously producing a video game based on the flick, which New Line plans to release sometime in 2009.
Planet 51 is produced by Ilion’s Ignacio Perez Dolest, with Handmade’s Guy Collins and Michael Ryan listed as co-producers, along with former Nickelodeon head Albie Hecht and Lola Film president Andres Vicente Gomez. Stillman, who collaborated on scripts for all three Shrek films, earned an Emmy nomination for his work on the Fox TV series King of the Hill, and also worked with Mike Judge on Beavis and Butthead.
