Posted in: Movies, Netflix | Tagged: movies, netflix, Nimona

The Nimona Animated Movie Has Been Saved By Netflix

To say that Disney's 20th Century Fox acquisition through more than a few projects into chaos would be an understatement, and then COVID-19 came around and just made everything even worse. One of the studios that really got the short end of the stick was Blue Sky Animations which was acquired and then shut down by Disney while they were in the middle of a project. That project was the animated adaptation of Nimona, a webcomic from now She-Ra and The Princess of Power creator ND Stevenson. Those running around the internet, and specifically Tumblr, in the early 2010s, remember seeing Stevenson's artwork, and Nimona started out as a webcomic and went on to be their senior project. In 2015, the comic was published by HarperCollins. The same year that the comic was published, Fox got the rights to make the movie, and when Disney bought them, Blue Sky was reportedly 75% complete with the film. There has been some significant pushback with this cancelation, with some former Blue Sky employees citing that Disney had issues with the LGBTQIA+ themes in the movie, and that was a reason why the project was shelved.

Nimona has found a new home, and all things considered, it really isn't that surprising that it's at Netflix. Word came down that Netflix had picked up the rights for Nimona and would be releasing the animated movie in 2023. According to a press release sent out by the streaming service, Netflix is partnering with Annapurna Pictures, and production began early last year. DNEG Animation is doing the animation, and it is retaining its original voice cast of Chloë Grace Moretz as Nimona, Riz Ahmed as Ballister Boldheart, and Eugene Lee Yang as Ambrosius Goldenloin. Nick Bruno and Troy Quane are set to direct with Roy Lee, Karen Ryan, and Julie Zackary producing and Robert L. Baird, Megan Ellison, and Andrew Millstein executive producing. We also got a synopsis for anyone unfamiliar with the Eisner award winning comic: "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." Stevenson dropped a first look at the movie and reacted to the movie's revival on Twitter:

However, what isn't entirely clear from everything is whether or not this is the same project that was shelved by Disney or something completely new, and considering the insanely fast turnaround of less than a year, it's like that some of this version of Nimona is that shelved project. Still, the previous movie's director isn't listed anywhere in the currently released credits. Patrick Osborne was set to direct that one, and his name isn't anywhere on this. If the movie was as close to being completed as they say it was, Osborne should have at least as producing credit, but so far, he remains nowhere to be seen. Then again, this sort of stuff is insanely complicated, and figuring out who is getting credit and paid for what when it comes to a project like this could just be taking some time, and the credits might change by the time 2023 rolls around. Someone will likely clear up whether or not this is the same project, somewhat the same project, or something completely different by the time Netflix releases this highly anticipated adaptation.

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