Cantilever Media is launching the consumer products campaign for its upcoming Sky original animated feature film The Amazing Maurice, produced with Ulysses Filmproduktion in co-production with Sky. Two leading licensors have already been secured: Titan and Forbidden Planet.
Based on one of Sir Terry Pratchett’s wildly popular Discworld novels, the film stars Hugh Laurie (Avenue 5) as Maurice, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Malicia, David Thewlis (Wonder Woman) as Boss Man, Himesh Patel (Yesterday) as Keith, Gemma Arterton (The King’s Man) as Peaches, YouTuber Joe Sugg as Sardines, Ariyon Bakare (His Dark Materials) as Darktan, Julie Atherton (Avenue Q) as Nourishing, Rob Brydon (Roald & Beatrix: The Tale of the Curious Mouse) as the Pied Piper, Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) as The Mayor and David Tennant (Doctor Who) as Dangerous Beans.
Titan Books has come on board as publishing partner to produce a highly detailed hardback coffee table art book, The Amazing Maurice: The Art of the Film, which will be released to coincide with the movie launch in the UK. Working in close collaboration with the filmmakers, the book will be a celebration of the creative process of bringing The Amazing Maurice to life, including concept art, sketches, storyboards, behind the scenes photography, and interviews with cast and crew. It is being written by Los-Angeles based author and journalist Ramin Zahed, editor-in-chief of Animation Magazine. His recent books include The Art of The Mitchells vs. the Machines, The Art of Vivo, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Art of the Movie and The Art of Klaus.
Specialist retailer Forbidden Planet is also partnering with Cantilever to launch an eclectic product range based on The Amazing Maurice including adult T-shirts, children’s T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts and scarves as well as an extensive range of gift and home product and accessories.
Cantilever and Ulysses also launched a dedicated website for The Amazing Maurice fans on 1 November this year to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the book. Cantilever has partnered with Val Fry of Fryday Brands to build a consumer products range across key categories to include digital and board games, plush, stationery, gifting and apparel.
Val Fry said, “The Amazing Maurice has a broad appeal spanning a wide audience of both dedicated Terry Pratchett fans and also family movie lovers. We are excited by the reactions and conversations with licensing partners and look forward to expanding the world of Maurice to fans new and old.”
In The Amazing Maurice, a Sky Original, Maurice is a streetwise tom cat who comes up with a money-making scam by befriending a group of talking rats. When Maurice and the rodents reach the stricken town of Bad Blintz, they meet a bookworm called Malicia and their scheme soon goes down the drain.
The film is co-produced by Sky, Ulysses Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media in partnership with Global Screen, with animation studios Studio Rakete (Hamburg) and Red Star Animation (Sheffield). The film has the full support of the Terry Pratchett estate and is produced in association with Narrativia the independent production company set up by the author in 2012. Producers are Julia Stuart (Sky), Emely Christians (Ulysses), Andrew Baker and Robert Chandler (Cantilever Media) and Rob Wilkins (Narrativia). The Film is directed by Toby Genkel, co-director is Florian Westermann, from a screenplay by Terry Rossio.
The Amazing Maurice, a Sky Original will be released on Sky Cinema in 2022. The film will also be available on streaming service NOW via the Sky Cinema Membership.
Sky Cinema is the home of Sky Original films, with brand new films launching every month alongside an unrivalled range of the latest cinema releases and on demand library.
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is a children’s fantasy by Sir Terry Pratchett, published by Doubleday in 2001. It was the 28th novel in the Discworld series, but the first written primarily for children. The Amazing Maurice is a lively and entertaining adventure inspired by the German fairy tale about the Pied Piper of Hamelin and a parody of the folktale genre. Pratchett won the annual Carnegie Medal for the book – children’s literature’s highest award and many other awards, honorary degrees and the knighthood that followed, Sir Terry Pratchett always emphasised that this was the award of which he was most proud. Sir Terry Pratchett has sold nearly 90 million books worldwide.
