Matt Reeves and Gary Whitta are teaming up to adapt the Eisner-winning graphic novel series Mouse Guard. Fox has optioned the best-selling work by David Petersen that will be penned by Whitta, the screenwriter of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Reeves, the director of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Cloverfield, will produce the adaptation via his 6th & Idaho banner, along with Mouse Guard publisher Boom! Studios' Ross Richie and Stephen Christy. Reeves is not intending to helm the project. Adam Kassan will executive produce for 6th & Idaho, and Boom!'s Adam Yoelin and David Petersen will co-produce. Mark Roybal will oversee for the studio.
The studio is looking to make a live-action movie utilizing the performance-capture technology pioneered for Fox’s acclaimed Apes franchise as well as technology used by Disney’s live-action animal tale The Jungle Book to bring the Mouse Guard world to vivid life.
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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat- ... apt-912076
Maze Runner trilogy helmer Wes Ball is being pursued by 2oth Century Fox to direct Mouse Guard, an ambitious live-action/VFX mix about a brotherhood of mice during medieval times sworn to protect the fellow rodents in their midst.
Matt Reeves is producing the film, which has a script by Book of Eli and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story scribe Gary Whitta. The project is based on the Eisner-winning graphic novel series by David Petersen, and Reeves is producing through his 6th & Idaho shingle along with Boom! Studios’ Ross Richie and Stephen Christy.
Source:
https://deadline.com/2017/09/mouse-guar ... 202164619/
Earlier this year Maze Runner series director Wes Ball
indicated that Fox’s adaptation of the Eisner Award winning comic series Mouse Guard might be his next film. Now it appears that the studio is prepared to move on the film with production set to being in Los Angeles in January with a huge $150M budget.
Created, written and illustrated by David Petersen, Mouse Guard tells the story of anthropomorphic mice living in medieval times and sworn to protect the common folk. Ball has been working on developing the project for some time, envisioning it as an “amazing fantasy epic” that can now be brought to life thanks to the mocap efforts of WETA in recent films such as Planet of the Apes. Apes director Matt Reeves is serving as a producer on the film, which will work from a screenplay by writer Dante Harper who took a turn following an earlier draft from Gary Whitta.
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http://thathashtagshow.com/2018/10/19/e ... ary-start/
The movie will be shot using motion capture CG, with similar technology we’ve seen before in movies like Jungle Book and Planet of the Apes. Petersen mentions that he has a great respect for adaptations of comics done in 2D animation and stop motion, but that he feels it is important that the landscape of the movie be a character unto itself, and has always envisioned the medieval scenery as a live action creature that moves and breathes along with the rest of the characters in the film.
Of the storyline, Petersen reveals that the first arc of the comics, Fall 1152, will be the backbone of the plot, with some moments from other books, such as Legends of the Guards, mixed in. When asked if there’s any hope that the Mouse Guard movie may turn into more than one film, he says, “We hope that there’s enough stuff to keep going. I think we can make a fantastic first movie and not leave anyone wanting, but still have more left to come back to.”
Source:
https://www.geek.com/tech/mouse-guard-m ... c-1663141/
Last year we broke the news that Fox and director Wes Ball were hoping to start production on their long-gestating adaptation of Mouse Guard sometime in January. While the production did undergo some delays, the studio has things back on track now to get cameras rolling this May and have now begun casting actors to take on challenge of becoming anthropomorphic mice via WETA’s motion capture technology.
If you’re doing a mocap heavy film there are a few names you probably check with before moving along to others and, to almost no one’s surprise, Fox has landed arguably the world’s foremost expert in motion capture performances to play the film’s villain. Andy Serkis (Black Panther, Planet of the Apes) has agreed to play the film’s menacing villain, Midnight. A former member of the Mouse Guard, Midnight became disgruntled with the changing role of the Guard, took up the Black Axe and sought to overthrow the Mouse Guard and rule the world! This role will reunite Serkis with Apes director Matt Reeves, who is serving as a producer on Mouse Guard.
Emmy Award winning actor Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) has also joined the film’s cast in the role of Conrad. Conrad is an older mouse, who after a life of adventure on the high seas, joined the Mouse Guard as a member of their seaside outpost, Calogero.
The studio is currently casting the main character, Liam, and has made an offer to actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster, though at this time no agreement had been reached. Additionally, the studio is now looking to replace Christian Bale who had originally signed on for the part of Kelenaw, the mentor to Liam.
Source:
http://www.thathashtagshow.com/2019/03/ ... use-guard/
Andy Serkis and Thomas Brodie-Sangster have signed to star in the feature that is being directed by Wes Ball, the filmmaker behind the Maze Runner movies. Serkis is the villain of the piece, the Guard’s blacksmith known as Midnight who turns against it. Brodie-Sangster is Lieam, one of the Guard’s newest and youngest members who will be called upon to prove his bravery.
Mouse Guard is being shot using motion capture and will have WETA providing visual effects. Matt Reeves is producing along with Boom!’s Ross Richie and Stephen Christy as well as Joe Hartwick Jr. The project is expected to begin production in May.
Source:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat- ... rd-1193374
Idris Elba is in final negotiations to star in Mouse Guard, Fox’s adaptation of the Boom! Studios comic being directed by Wes Ball, the filmmaker behind the Maze Runner movies. Elba will play Celanawe, an Obi-Wan Kenobi-like figure who was once a legendary champion and now thought long gone.
Matt Reeves is producing along with Boom!’s Ross Richie and Stephen Christy as well as Joe Hartwick Jr. A May start of production is being planned.
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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat- ... rd-1196084
Sonoya Mizuno, who played Araminta Lee, a.k.a the bride, in Warner Bros hit rom-com Crazy Rich Asians, has been tapped as the title character in 20th Century Fox’s Wes Ball-directed Mouse Guard, the film adaptation to David Petersen’s Eisner-winning comic book series. She joins Andy Serkis, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Idris Elba in the film, which will be shot using motion capture.
Matt Reeves is producing the film through his 6th & Idaho shingle along with Boom! Studios’ Ross Richie and Stephen Christy, as well as Ball and Wes and his producing partner Joe Hartwick via the OddBall production company banner.
Source:
https://deadline.com/2019/03/crazy-rich ... 202583427/
BAFTA-nominated actor Samson Kayo has booked a role in Mouse Guard, Fox’s adaptation of the Boom! Studios comic to be directed by Wes Ball, the filmmaker behind the Maze Runner movies. It is the first American role for the British actor, who now joins Idris Elba, Andy Serkis and Thomas Brodie-Sangster on the film project, which is being described as a sort of Game of Thrones with mice. Kayo will play a member of the guard named Saxson, who is described as being a lush and a scalawag and who has a fiery temperament and an inclination for melodrama.
Mouse Guard is scheduled to begin shooting next month using motion capture and having WETA providing visual effects.
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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat- ... ie-1198648
Comedian Jack Whitehall is joining the growing cast of Mouse Guard, Fox’s adaptation of the acclaimed Archaia/Boom! Studios comic. Whitehall will play Kenzie, the calm and measured staff wielder who is often paired with Kayo’s character, Saxson, a guard member who is a lush and a scalawag. The two are said to have a comedic Han Solo and Chewbacca vibe.
Idris Elba, Andy Serkis, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Samson Kayo are already suiting up for what will be shot using motion capture. Wes Ball, the filmmaker behind the Maze Runner, will be sitting behind the camera when the feature begins shooting May.
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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat- ... rd-1199702
‘The Maze Runner’ trilogy scribe T. S. Nowlin has been tasked with writing the screenplay for Wes Ball’s ‘Mouse Guard’ adaptation at 20th Century Fox. Nowlin has likely completed his draft of the screenplay given that filming begins this May. Nowlin and Ball are frequent collaborators, so it’s no surprise to see his name on here. Ball is directing with a story treatment from ‘The Book Of Eli’ writer Gary Whitta. Ball previously directed all three ‘Maze Runner’ films.
Source:
https://thegww.com/exclusive-the-maze-r ... use-guard/
