Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (), Jamie Dornan (), Jodie Turner-Smith (), Oscar-nominated Bill Nighy () and Emmy winner Gillian Anderson () have boarded Nicholas Ashe Bateman’s upcoming family fantasy, now in production.
Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (), Jamie Dornan (), Jodie Turner-Smith (), Oscar-nominated Bill Nighy () and Emmy winner Gillian Anderson () have joined the voice cast of the upcoming family fantasy animated feature, .The film is being written and directed by filmmaker and VFX supervisor Nicholas Ashe Bateman (); it’s being produced by Bateman, Christine D’Souza Gelb of 2AM (), and Hunter Hall of Maere Studios ().
Original music and songs are being written by People Museum’s Claire Givens () and Bateman.Production is currently underway, though no delivery window has been shared. Mister Smith Entertainment is onboard for international sales and will introduce footage from the film to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market.2AM is handling North American sales. is filmmaker Nicholas Ashe Bateman’s second feature following the sci-fi fantasy (2020).
He is the founder of Maere Studios, the award-winning VFX and animation studio, designing effects for films such as and In the film, as a party rages downstairs, young Ariadlyn is sent to bed.Escaping her bedtime, she slips into her parents’ room, where she discovers an ornate wooden box, opening a door to a magical world called The Turning.To find her way back home and save her parents - now frozen in the real world - Ariadlyn must seek out a sorceress and her crystal vial.
Along the way, she will encounter giants, whales, armies, shapeshifters and acrobatic monkeys as she discovers what it means to grow up.Bateman commented, “The pictures, places and songs of have been with me since I was a child.Thematically, its world is a combination of the ones which have filled me with wonder since I was little: the Neverlands, Wonderlands and all those adventures in far-off fantasies.
Technically, the film is the result of the past 15 years of trying to make stories - while developing the tools, the dreams and the incredible artists needed to pursue them.More than ever, it’s important to believe that independent animation made by passionate artists and a dream cast has a place in the world; entirely new cinematic experiences - made by people - without any generative AI.” Mister Smith Entertainment CEO David Garrett added, “Anyone with a heart and with an appreciation of the magic of filmmaking, cannot help but fall in love with this film.It has the makings of a classic for all audiences for all time.” Vikander is represented by UTA.
Dornan is repped by UTA, Sloane Offer Weber & Dern, and Relevant.Turner-Smith is represented by UTA, 111 Media, The Lede Company and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.Nighy is represented by UTA, Independent Talent Group, QVoice, Public Eye Communications and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein.
Anderson is represented by UTA and Independent Talent Group. Bateman is represented by UTA, 2am, and Granderson Des Rochers. 2AM is an Oscar-nominated film and TV production company and talent management firm led by Christine D’Souza Gelb, David Hinojosa, and Kevin Rowe.The company launched in early 2021 with a strategic partnership with A24 and has offices in New York and Los Angeles.Maere Studios is the award-winning visual effects and design studio behind such films as A24’s Disney’s M.
Night Shyamalan’s and Ava Duvernay’s .Launching the division of Maere Studios Animation, the company co-produced, which was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Television Special at the 2025 Annecy Film Festival.Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
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