Nimona Lives! Netflix Resurrects Cancelled Blue Sky Movie
When they first started making original content, Netflix had a reputation for rescuing shows that had been cancelled by traditional broadcasters. These days Netflix is itself much more likely to be the ones doing the cancelling themselves. Tuca and Bertie was an example of a show rescued (by Adult Swim) after Netflix axed it. However, they still occasionally still step in to rescue projects that had faltered elsewhere. Nobody expected we would ever get to see Guillermo del Toro's Pinnochio after its original studio pulled out, but Netflix stepped in and saved the day. Now it has emerged the same thing has happened with the eagerly anticipated graphic novel adaptation Nimona.
Based on the young adult fantasy by She-Ra and The Princesses Of Power creator ND Stevenson, the film was in production at Blue Sky Studios under director Patrick Osborne. When new owners Disney decided to close Blue Sky, the plug was pulled on Nimona and it seemed as if it would never see the light of day.
The news is surprising as we would assume that Disney would not want a project they had been developing to go to a competitor, but it would seem that on this occasion there was nothing stopping Stevenson from taking it elsewhere. Which is brilliant news for anyone who was keenly anticipating this release.
What is all but certain though is the fact that the animation will need to have been started from scratch, even though it was just months from completion. It's standard practice that anything you produced while at a Disney Studio belongs to them, and there's no way they would be letting them take that to Netflix.
A Knight is framed for a crime he didn't commit and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona, a shape-shifting teen who might also be a monster he's sworn to kill. Set in a techno-medieval world unlike anything animation has tackled before, this is a story about the labels we assign to people and the shapeshifter who refuses to be defined by anyone.
According to Netflix, the film has been in production since early last year, and the animation is now being produced by DNEG Animation (Ron's Gone Wrong) with Anapurna Pictures on board as co-producer. Osborne is no longer attached and the film is now directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, Blue Sky veterans who directed the studio's last completed feature, Spies in Disguise. Robert L. Baird, Megan Ellison, and Andrew Millstein are on board as Executive Producers.
Netflix has also announced the key voice cast. Chloe Grace Moretz will voice Nimona, Oscar-nominated British actor Riz Ahmed will voice the brilliantly named Ballister Boldheart and Eugene Lee Yang will play Ambrosius Goldenloin.
Nimona is scheduled to be released some time in 2023.
