Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) and Lilly Singh (A Little Late with Lilly Singh) are cast in the lead roles of Hitpig and Pickles. Rainn Wilson (The Office) will voice the villain. Other cast members include RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Australian comedian and writer Hannah Gadsby (Douglas), and Dany Boon (Raid: Special Unit).
HITPIG! is set in a futuristic cyberpunk world and follows a grizzled porcine bounty hunter Hitpig (Dinklage) who accepts his next hit: Pickles (Singh), a naive, ebullient elephant who has escaped the clutches of an evil trillionaire. Though Hitpig initially sets out to capture the perky pachyderm, the unlikely pair find themselves on an unexpected adventure criss-crossing the globe that brings out the best in both of them.
The film is directed by Cinzia Angelini (Mila, Minions) and Maurizio Parimbelli (Peter Rabbit) and produced by Adam Nagle (Riverdance: The Animated Adventure) and Dave Rosenbaum (Secret Life of Pets). It is currently in production at Cinesite and scheduled for release in early 2022.
“Peter will bring equal parts a huge heart and fantastic humour to his character,” said Angelini. Parimbelli added, “There is no one funnier than Lilly, but she’ll also bring a warmth and loving side to Pickles.”
The studio also unveiled some of the concept art for HITPIG! by Berkeley Breathed, who co-wrote the screenplay and is also serving as character designer for the film. He is an American cartoonist, children’s book creator, director and screenwriter, best known for creating the classic Bloom County, a 1980s cartoon-comic strip featuring Opus the Penguin. At the height of its popularity, the comic strip was followed by more than 40 million readers in 1,200 newspapers. The characters Hitpig and Pickles are rooted in Berkeley’s New York Times bestselling picture book Pete & Pickles.
“When Peter and Lilly agreed to voice our lead characters, it was one of those deliciously rare voilå moments for a writer and artist when the final perfect ingredients are added to one’s cooked-up soufflé of imagination,” said Breathed. “They’ll bring heartfelt, hilarious performances to our lead characters and deliver the message and theme I had intended when I conceived the story, the hope that unexpected connection can deliver in our disconnected lives. I’m in humbled awe of our entire crew and the endless reserves of ingenuity that they’re bringing to this movie.”
HITPIG! is one of three previously announced feature films in the Aniventure slate. The studio is in production on Riverdance: The Animated Adventure (produced by Aniventure and River Productions), and Blazing Samurai (Aniventure and Blazing Productions). Riverdance: The Animated Adventure, Blazing Samurai and HITPIG! will be delivered in 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively.
