Kids and family entertainment venture Toon2Tango, a Leonine Animation Studios company, announced that it will co-produce animated film Paluten Freedom for the whole family based on a wildly successful web video series. It will co-produce alongside renowned production company Odeon Fiction, which has secured the film rights to the web video series that inspired the film.
The theatrical release will take place in 2027. The film will be distributed by leading independent media company Leonine Studios, which recently made headlines with the hit children’s and family franchise The School Of Magical Animals, the third part of which is currently one of the most successful films of 2024 with more than 2.6 million cinema viewers in Germany alone.
The Paluten Freedom IP includes the successful YouTube series of the same name, which now boasts more than 380 episodes, a nine-volume bestselling book series with more than 1.8 million books sold, and a hit comic. This hugely popular brand, created by Paluten (whose real name is Patrick Mayer), is now the inspiration for an animated film adventure featuring new stories from the Paluten Freedom world and its lovable and funny characters such as Paluten, Pig Edgar, Professor Duck, Dieter, Karla, Captain Greasepants and Evil Paluten.
Patrick Mayer and Klaas Kern are developing the screenplay for the film together, continuing their successful collaboration beyond the book series. Paluten is a German social media superstar who entertains millions of followers with his high-energy and hilarious takes on gameplay, videos, challenges, and collaborations with other YouTubers.
“I am very proud that Palle and his agency 2nd Wave have placed their trust in us to bring Paluten Freedom to the big screen. I am also delighted that we are able to tackle such a high-profile in-house project in which production and distribution are realised together under the umbrella of Leonine Studios,” said Odeon Fiction producer Philip Voges.
“We are delighted that Toon2Tango is part of this fantastic project, excited to be working with one of the best-known social media stars in Germany, and confident that together we can develop a popular and successful franchise with Paluten Freedom that will build on and expand its massive online success,” said Toon2Tango producer and CEO Ulli Stoef.
“In 2012, I started with Minecraft videos on a small monitor and now I’ve got something on the big screen! No joke, if someone had told me that back then, I would have taken them straight to hospital! It’s still just as incredible to me today that nine volumes of Paluten Freedom have now been published,” Paluten shared.
The agreement with Paluten was made through Boris Lehfeld, the manager of Paluten and MD of the agency 2nd Wave. The film’s producer is Philip Voges (Türkisch für Anfänger, Erkan & Stefan, Wo ist Fred?). Its co-producers are Toon2Tango founders Ulli Stoef (Mia and Me, Maya the Bee – The Honey Games) and Jo Daris (Monster Loving Maniacs).