My Little Pony fans will be able to keep their cutie marks parked at home for the Mane Six’s next, as-yet untitled animated feature frolic. Previously slated for theatrical release September 24 through Paramount Pictures, the eOne/Boulder Media project has been hitched up by Netflix for global distribution — excluding China, which is covered by Hasbro’s eOne. A release date has not been revealed.
Little has been announced about the new MLP movie, which will once again be based on the smash hit Friendship Is Magic reboot created by Lauren Faust. The film is being directed by Emmy-nominated comedy writer Robb Cullen — co-creator/director/writer of the Spike adult toon Gary the Rat, starring Kelsey Grammer — and kids’ TV animation writer-director José Luis Ucha (Invizimals, Angus & Cheryl, Bernard), with Mark Fattibene (CG supervisor, Monsters vs. Aliens, Kung Fu Panda). Producers are Cecil Kramer and Peter Lewis.
As cinemas remain closed and audiences stay home to help mitigate the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, major theatrical releases have been jumping to VOD and streaming platforms. Netflix has been snapping up high profile animated feature projects to add to its robust originals slate, taking on international rights outside the U.S. & Canada to Paramount/Nickelodeons’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run back in November and announcing back-to-back agreements for Sony Pictures Animation titles Wish Dragon and The Mitchells vs. the Machines (re-retitled from Connected).
Both SPA pics are expected to make Netflix global debuts this year, alongside originals Arlo the Alligator Boy, Back to the Outback, Henry Selick’s Wendell and Wild, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and Nora Twomey’s My Father’s Dragon.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ran for nine seasons (228 episodes) from 2010 to 2019, spawning 2017 theatrical release My Little Pony: The Movie directed by series helmer Jayson Thiessen, which made $61.3 million at the global box office. This fall, a new chibi-style spin-off series My Little Pony: Pony Life (eOne/Allspark/Boulder Media) premiered on Discovery Family in the U.S.
[Source: Variety]
