China Lion Film and HB Wink Animation have given the greenlight to their first CG animated family feature, Extinct, being directed by David Silverman (The Simpsons, Monsters, Inc.) and produced at Cinesite Montreal. The adventure-comedy will be made to appeal to kids as well as tweens and teens, and will introduce audiences to fluffy animals called “flummels.”
Written by Simpsons veterans Joel H. Cohen, John Frink and Rob LaZebnik, Extinct follows two adorable flummels who are transported to the present day, where and when they learn their species has become extinct. The last of their kind, they must travel back in time to try to save their race.
“From the outset, producing high quality co-productions that embody Chinese cultural elements for global distribution has been China Lion’s mission,“ said China Lion president Mr. Yanming Jiang. “We were deeply attracted by Extinct’s great script and the talented creatives behind it. Today’s announcement is the culmination of two years of development, we believe the flummels will be the next animated characters loved by kids and teens all over the world. We’re excited to be working with HB Wink and Cinesite to make a high-quality film to delight the global marketplace.”
“Wink aims to create the highest quality animation as we establish an exciting slate of new animated films,” added HB Wink Animation CEO Joe Aguilar (producer, Puss in Boots). “Cinesite is perfectly positioned to help us achieve that goal, and we could not be happier to have them as our partner on Extinct.”
Production is underway at Cinesite Montreal, with experienced talent to be recruited immediately (see opportunities available at www.cinesite.com). The studio expects to employ over 125 artists, technicians and support staff during peak production. China Lion Film is financing and co-producing the film with HB Wink Animation. Extinct is scheduled to be distributed globally in the first quarter of 2020.
“We are delighted to be working with our partners at China Lion and HB Wink on the production of Extinct,” added Montreal COO Francois Sansregret. “This feature will benefit from the considerable investment we have made and continue to make in our infrastructure and proven animation pipeline over the past five years. We look forward to working together to bring the flummels to life and create an amazing movie.”
Extinct is the fifth CG feature to be created at Cinesite, and joins the Montreal slate alongside an untitled 3QU Media project and several more titles in various stages of development. Cinesite is also in production on MGM’s The Addams Family at its Vancouver facility.
