Sony Pictures Animation Set to Reboot The Boondocks, Adapt Anthony Bourdain Graphic Novel
Image via Cartoon Network/YouTube TV News Sony Pictures Animation
Sony Pictures Animation is coming in hot with its new programming slate. At Wednesday’s Annecy International Animated Film Festival presentation, the animation giant announced it will reboot the early-2000s cult classic The Boondocks and move forward to adapt Anthony Bourdain’s Hungry Ghosts for television, per THR.
During the presentation, Sony Pictures Animation president Kristine Belson also introduced two new initiatives under the studio’s belt: a fledgling international production program and a roster of adult-skewed series.
The first project under the former initiative is already underway. Coraline director Chris Appelhans is set to direct the feature Wish Dragon, which follows a young boy, his dragon and his search for a long-lost friend who has succumbed to the spoils of a consumer lifestyle. Jackie Chan’s Beijing Sparkle Roll Media is also attached to the film, set for release in 2020.
The adult-oriented initiative also has projects in development, including Hungry Ghosts, the adaptation of Bourdain’s culinary-inspired ghost stories, the Boondocks reimagining, a Claymation/live-action half-hour titled Superbago and two features from Genndy Tartakovsky (Hotel Transylvania, The Powerpuff Girls).
The two newly announced production lines mark further expansion of Sony Pictures Animation’s output following their 2018 Oscar win for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Of the studio’s ambitious initiatives, Belson said the studio is “committed to making big, bold movies” and intends to bring “all audiences stories from around the world, stories no one else is telling,” and do so in a way that pushes the boundaries of animated storytelling.
Belson also shared a first look at the second Angry Birds film (yippee!) and revealed further details for the studio’s 2020 releases The Mitchells vs. The Machines, which Belson revealed uses animation techniques from Spider-Verse, and Vivo, the studio’s first musical.
Stay tuned for further updates on Sony Pictures Animation’s forthcoming productions, but for now, revisit our review of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse here.