AARDMAN AND STUDIOCANAL ANNOUNCE NEW NICK PARK FILM

Aardman and STUDIOCANAL announced today a new partnership on an exciting and hilarious new adventure from the award-winning studio, creators of Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit. This is their second film together after ‘Shaun the Sheep The Movie’ directed by Mark Burton and Richard Starzak.

‘Early Man’ is a stop-frame feature film by BAFTA and Academy Award winning director, Nick Park, produced by Aardman.  Supported by accomplished screenwriters Mark Burton and John O’Farrell, this new film will take audiences into a dramatic prehistoric world and unleash an unforgettable cast of hilarious new characters.  It also marks Park’s first film since ‘Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit’.  Park also co-directed Chicken Run.

STUDIOCANAL is co-financing the film and will distribute it in its 5 territories and is handling international sales. The BFI (British Film Institute) is also a partner on the film.  Sales will start in Cannes Film Festival.

‘Early Man’ continues the production partnership with STUDIOCANAL and Aardman following the success of ‘Shaun the Sheep The Movie’. With 20 territories still to release the film including key markets such as Latin America, China and the United States of America (by Lionsgate on August 7th), the film has been an impressive debut for the partnership.

Set at the dawn of time, when dinosaurs and woolly mammoths roamed the earth, ‘Early Man’ tells the story of how one plucky caveman unites his tribe against a mighty enemy and saves the day!

Nick Park said: “I’m very excited to be making this film with such great partners – STUDIOCANAL and BFI.  And with the support of the incredible team at Aardman – bringing this inept bunch of cavemen to life is going to be a hilarious adventure! “

Olivier Courson said: “I’m thrilled to partner again with the Aardman team.  All of us at Studiocanal are such fans of everything that Aardman does.  After the great experience together on Shaun the Sheep The Movie, we could not be happier than to be able to work on a Nick Park film with Aardman.”