EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of us revealing their Katy Perry animated musical Melody, The Trial Of The Chicago 7 and The Pale Blue Eye outfit Cross Creek Pictures and animation specialist Zag have set an agreement to develop and produce a slate of ten animated, live-action and hybrid format features, the majority of which will be musicals.
Among the new projects is a collaboration with Michael Gracey, director of The Greatest Showman, with whom Zag and Cross Creek are also working on Melody.
The pact has been struck by Jeremy Zag, founder and CEO of LA and Paris-based Zag, and Tyler Thompson, producer, Cross Creek Pictures. Zag was at French animation festival Annecy this week to discuss the pact and other projects.
In addition to the Jeremy Zag-created and directed Melody, Zag and Cross Creek previously collaborated on big-budget upcoming animated musical Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir: The Movie –the origin story to the hit TV series Miraculous: Adventures of Ladybug and Cat Noir, created and produced by Jeremy Zag. Cross Creek served as a co-producer on the feature.
The upcoming slate of ten movies are all based on Zag’s intellectual property, created by Jeremy Zag, and will fall under the company’s existing Zag Heroez umbrella, as well as new label’s Zag Passion and Zag Adventures. Jeremy Zag will direct a minimum of five of the projects.
The new features all include themes of self-discovery. First up (all working titles) is Fairy Force, an animated musical that follows a little fairy coming from the forest and landing in the middle of Central Park who comes face-to-face with the witches of New York City; Ghostforce, will be a live-action movie based on Zag’s TV series, and is being developed alongside Michael Gracey, the director of The Greatest Showman; Ladylion, is an animated musical which will be developed in collaboration with global wildlife ambassador Dean Schneider; Choco, is a hybrid live-action musical; and there are five other yet to be announced titles.
“Working together with Cross Creek on our upcoming Miraculous feature release, and Melody, has been such an inspiring journey, and created an opportunity to work on many more projects together,” commented Jeremy Zag. “I have been developing these new film projects for a number of years and am so excited that we have the ideal partner in Cross Creek to bring them to fruition.”
“It has been an immense pleasure working alongside Jeremy on Miraculous and Melody in an effort to bring new content to platforms for viewers around the world,” added Cross Creek’s Tyler Thompson. “Furthering our partnership into a long-standing commitment to new IP will bring fresh perspectives and storytelling for years to come.”
The post After Katy Perry Musical ‘Melody’, Cross Creek & Zag Set 10-Picture Animation Deal Including Michael Gracey Collaboration: Annecy appeared first on Deadline.
