Rainshine Entertainment, a global entertainment company has joined hands with Malaysia-based Animasia Studio, an award-winning animation and digital content production house to co-produce a trilogy of animated feature films adapted from the Young Captain Nemo books trilogy. This film trilogy is the first of a multi-project partnership with the award-winning Malaysia-based Animasia Studio.
The partners have roped in renowned screenwriter and creator of the Final Destination movie franchise, Jeffrey Reddick, to adapt the books to screen. He’ll be responsible for screenwriting and executive producing the films. The scripts are inspired by the Jules Verne classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and author Jason Henderson’s hit KidLit series.
Earlier, in May 2020, Kinsane Entertainment, a kids and family entertainment company owned by Rainshine Entertainment, had acquired the book adaptation rights to the Young Captain Nemo trilogy written by best-selling author Jason Henderson and published by Feiwel & Friends (an imprint of Macmillan). The story follows 12-year-old Gabriel Nemo, descendent of Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, as the young adventurer and his friends fight nature, villains, and forces of evil in his submarine Nemotech – reads the synopsis.
This trilogy is a collaborative effort and brings together a roster of renowned names from across the world of literature, entertainment, and animation. Popular for his horror flicks, Reddick who is also writing for two Netflix animated series, Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, and a spin-off of the best-selling Usagi Yojimbo comic book series, will have a close associate, Saahil Bhargava as the creative producer. Bhargava is the co-founder of Kinsane and founder of Rainshine’s teen and adult animation division Raijin Studios. Kinsane co-founder and CEO Kurt Inderbitzin, along with other members of the Kinsane content and production team will also work closely with Reddick.
Commenting on the announcement, Rainshine Entertainment chairman and CEO Neeraj Bhargava stated, “Creating meaningful entertainment for a diverse and global audience is at the heart of every project we undertake at Rainshine. So, when Kinsane (a subsidiary of Rainshine) acquired the adaptation rights to the Young Captain Nemo books, we saw it as a contemporary action adventure with an iconic character, with plots that have universal appeal. It’s also a great opportunity to share with the world, particularly our younger audiences, an inspirational tale woven into a world of mystery, fantasy and sci-fi. Bringing such a story to life on a grand scale requires a creative vision as well as a great team and partners, and we couldn’t have asked for a team that is as creatively rich and geographically diverse as Animasia Studios and Jeffrey Reddick. We very much look forward to seeing these stories come to life and winning accolades globally”.
Bringing all of this to life will be AhLoong from Animasia Studio, based in Kuala Lumpur with offices in Los Angeles. The production house has created award-winning animation work for leading names, including Disney Channel, Netflix, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon among others.
“We are delighted and excited to co-produce the Young Captain Nemo animation films in partnership with Rainshine Entertainment. The concept and the fantasy world of story lend themselves very well to animation as a medium of storytelling. And as a company committed to providing high-quality animation content to our audiences, we are certain that a character like Young Nemo will be a great opportunity to showcase our animation skills to a much wider and global audience”, said Animasia Studio managing director Edmund Chan.
Expressing his views on the films, Reddick added, “A lot of us have grown up reading Jules Verne’s classic and secretly wishing to become Captain Nemo. So, when Rainshine approached me to adapt Jason Henderson’s Young Captain Nemo books for a trilogy of animated feature films, I could visualise a colourful, adventurous, and thrill-a-minute animation that kids and families would enjoy. I look forward to working with the Rainshine and Animasia teams to take Young Captain Nemo to the screen.”