French studio Miyu Productions and L.A.-based Modern Magic – the event animation outfit recently launched by “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” writer-director and producer Rodney Rothman and former MGM co-president of production Adam Rosenberg – will offer an international show of force as they partner on the fantasy feature “The Long Night.”
Set for production in 2024, the Y.A.-skewing development project is based on an original idea by Cyril Pedrosa, a Disney trained animator turned award-winning graphic novelist; Pedrosa will also write and direct. “This film has occupied all my thoughts,” says the filmmaker. “It is a story that is both very personal and political, where the fantastic allows us to embody our fears and our anger, but also the best of ourselves.”
“We have wanted to work with Cyril on an animated feature film for a long time,” add Miyu chiefs Emmanuel-Alain Raynal and Pierre Baussaron, who describe the drama as an “auteur film for adults with an international dimension.”
Indeed, that particular project type has become something of a calling card for the studio founded by Raynal in 2009 and joined by Baussaron in 2015. After building a sterling reputation producing shorts and commissions, the Paris-based outfit has developed a number of co-production features over the past few years while launching a sales and distribution arm in 2017.
With a whopping nine films (including Pierre Foldès’ Haruki Murakami adaptation “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” in competition) screening at this year’s Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival, Miyu is primed to breakout even further, and this latest venture with Modern Magic should only help on that front.
Founded in 2021, the nascent American company has already put together projects with Sony, Warner Bros. and Universal, with Oscar-winning co-founder Rothman currently slated to direct the football biopic “Ricky Williams in Australia.”
Upon its launch in 2021, Modern Magic announced a development slate twenty titles strong; other titles include a musical inspired by the late rapper Juice WRLD, a feature spun-off from a SXSW-winning short, and a quirky live-action film from comedy writer Quinta Brunson (“A Black Lady Sketch Show”).
“Working on ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ showed us how ready the worldwide audience is for popular animation to tell new stories in new ways, using the best tools available to express how we feel now,” says Rothman.
“That’s the focus of our company and everyone we want to work with, and we’re especially proud to work with Miyu Productions and Cyril Pedrosa, a singular artist, writer, and animator whose wild imagination and thoughtful control of his craft has already spoken to so many fans all over the world.”
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