This is a list of unmade and unreleased animated projects by Sony Pictures Animation . Some of these films were or still are, in development limbo. These also include the co-productions the studio collaborated with in the past (i.e The Kerner Entertainment Company, Aardman Animations, The Jim Henson Company, Lord Miller Productions, Rovio Animation, and Base FX), as well as sequels to their franchises.
Contents: | 2000s : 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 |
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Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Untitled Astro Boy film | Just as early as 2001, long before the animation studio was founded in 2002, there were plans to do an entirely CGI film based on the Japanese manga series. It was going to be produced by Don Murphy, Lisa Henson, and Kristine Belson with a potential release date of 2004, and it would have been a collaboration with both Sony and Jim Henson Productions. Nothing came out eventually, and it would have been the first film for Sony Pictures Animation long before Open Season. Years later, Astro Boy ended up getting a computer-animated film released in 2009, with production done by Hong Kong-based Imagi Animation Studios instead. [1] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Untitled Guiley/Schneiderman films | In July 2002, when Sony Pictures Animation opened its doors, screenwriters Derek Guiley and David Schneiderman had pitched two separate untitled animated projects to the studio. [2] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Tam Lin | In May 2003, Sony Pictures Animation announced an adaptation of the Scottish fairy tale Tam Lin , with Roger Allers and Brenda Chapman as directors, [3] but one year later, Allers was later moved to co-direct Open Season . [4] Chapman later moved to Pixar to co-direct Brave . |
Feature film and television series | The ChubbChubbs! | A feature-length animated film and a television series based on the short The ChubbChubbs! were in development in 2003, at Sony Pictures Animation. [5] [6] That same year in October, Dan Wilson and Dave Gilbreth were hired to write the film's screenplay. [7] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Big Nasty | In August 2004, Sony Pictures Animation hired Don. D. Scott to write a computer-animated musical film entitled Big Nasty that involves micro-animals. Additionally, Scott was also producing the film through his production company, The Bridge, along with Sean Bailey. Penney Finkelman Cox and Nate Hopper were attached as producers. [8] In February 2007, Cox left Sony Pictures Animation, but she remained as a producer for the project. [9] Character designer Sylvain Deboissy posted on ArtStation with a description confirming that the project was cancelled. [10] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Neanderthals | In October 2005, Jon Favreau was hired to write, direct and produce an animated film based on his original concept that was to take place in pre-historic times. [11] In January 2008, Favreau told MTV News that he was ready to begin work on the project and was optimistic to do motion capture animation tests before the 2007–08 writers' strike. [12] As of 2010, some concept art was shown online. [13] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Pooch Café | In January 2008, Pooch Café author Paul Gilligan revealed on his website that Sony Pictures Animation has signed to make a computer-animated feature film based on the Pooch Café strip. [14] Gilligan then wrote several story treatments and screenplay drafts. [15] [16] [17] [18] In October 2011, Kelly Asbury was hired to write the next script draft. [19] [20] In April 2013, on a Twitter Q/A session, Gilligan revealed that the Pooch Cafe film was shelved by a director whom he refused to name. [21] [22] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Changelings [23] | In 2009, according to fantasy illustrator Jean-Baptiste Monge, Sony Pictures Animation had asked him to design some creatures for a fantasy animated film. [24] Brian Pimental was set to direct it and the film was going to be about mischievous creatures that lived in a forest and invaded a house in that woods. [25] |
The Familiars | In June 2009, Sony Pictures Animation acquired the rights to The Familiars . [26] Doug Sweetland was set to direct it [27] and was later joined with Fergal Reilly to co-direct the film, [28] but in 2013, he left to co-direct The Angry Birds Movie . [29] The same year in January, Sweetland later joined Warner Animation Group to ultimately direct Storks . [30] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Harold and the Purple Crayon | In February 2010, Sony Pictures Animation and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment were developing a computer-animated film adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon . It would have been produced by Smith and James Lassiter, and written by Josh Klausner. [31] Dallas Clayton was later brought to write the film. [32] The film moved to Columbia Pictures and Davis Entertainment and was released on August 2, 2024. |
RollerCoaster Tycoon | In 2010, Sony Pictures Animation was developing a film adaptation of the RollerCoaster Tycoon series, with filmmaker Harald Zwart executive producing and possibly directing. [33] | |
Flower Power | According to character designer Sylvain Deboissy, Sony Pictures Animation had an idea for an animated fantasy film set in the 1960s, named Flower Power. On his blog, however, the project is cancelled. [34] | |
Futuropolis | In December 2010, Sony Pictures Animation had entered a four-picture deal with Gotham Group beginning with an animated feature film. Based on his original story, Stephan Franck was attached to direct and David Reynolds was to write the script. [35] | |
Popeye | By March 2010, Sony Pictures Animation was developing a 3D computer-animated Popeye film, with Avi Arad producing it. [36] Jay Scherick and David Ronn, the writers of The Smurfs , were brought to write the screenplay for the film. [37] In June 2012, Genndy Tartakovsky was hired to direct the feature, [38] which he planned to make "as artful and unrealistic as possible". [39] Sony originally scheduled the film for release date of September 26, 2014, [40] but was pushed back to 2015. [41] Sony Pictures Animation later updated its slate, scheduling the film for 2016, and Tartakovsky was hired as the director of Hotel Transylvania 2 , which he was directing concurrently with Popeye. [42] Tartakovsky revealed an "animation test" footage in September 2014. [43] Despite the well-received test footage, Tartakovsky left the project, and would instead direct Can You Imagine?, which was based on his own original idea, but it was scrapped. [44] [45] T.J. Fixman was brought to write the film in 2016. [46] In 2020, the project moved at King Features Syndicate, with Tartakovsky returning to helm the film, [47] but in July 2022, Tartakovsky confirmed the project was no longer in development. [48] On July 22, an animatic of the entire film was leaked online, but it wouldn't reach mainstream attention until 4 days later. [49] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Untitled Lima/Sussman Project | In 2011, Enchanted director and writer Kevin Lima and David Sussman were hired to produce a live-action/animated project for Sony Pictures Animation. Sussman was to write the film, and Lima to direct and produce the film. [50] |
Muncle Trogg | In March 2011, Sony Pictures Animation acquired the film rights to Janet Foxley's children's book Muncle Trogg. The story is set in a community of giants who live a volcano and centers on a tiny giant (which makes him human-sized) laughed at for his size. He ends up saving his family in a story that involves a solar-powered dragon, a disgraced brother and a kidnapped child. Jane Startz was set to executive produce, while Kane Lee was assigned to produce the project. [51] | |
How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack | In April 2011, Sony Pictures Animation announced their first R-rated project, an adaptation of Chuck Sambuchino's book How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack: Defend Yourself When the Lawn Warriors Strike (And They Will). It would have been produced by Robert Zemeckis. [52] Chad Damiani and J. P. Lavin were hired as writers in November of the same year. [53] | |
Instant Karma | In April 2011, Sony Pictures Animation picked up the rights to Instant Karma, a comedy fantasy from Paul Hernandez, who wrote the script and was attached to direct what would be a live-action/CGI hybrid film. [54] The film was to follow a misguided safecracker from New Orleans through his life lessons from a near-death experience, only to find himself reincarnated as a fly. He does good deeds to improve his karma, and moves up the food chain through various types of animals, trying to get back to his human body and the woman he loves. | |
Chickenhare | By July 2011, Sony Pictures Animation and Dark Horse Comics were adapting the Chickenhare series into an animated feature film. [55] During 2012 and 2013, Grine revealed on the official Chickenhare Facebook page that he was impressed with screenplays and expressed a hope about the film to be made, [56] [57] but in January 2016, Grine wrote on his Twitter profile that the film was cancelled. [58] The film was brought back in production in February 2021, known as Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness , with Ben Stassen and Matthieu Zeller serving as directors and Dave Collard writing the screenplay. It was co-produced by Sony Pictures International Productions and nWave Pictures, and was released on February 16, 2022. [59] [ citation needed ] | |
The Cat Burglars | Aardman's stop-motion animated heist action-adventure black comedy film directed by Steve Box, about six cat burglars that steal milk, and their plans to pull off 'the great milk float robbery' before some humans neuter them. [60] | |
The Pirates! | Sequel to The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! | By August 2011, Aardman Animations was working on a sequel idea for The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! , [61] and by June 2012, a story had been prepared, awaiting Sony to back the project. [62] Eventually, Sony decided not to support the project due to insufficient international earnings. According to director Peter Lord, "it got close, but not quite close enough. I was all fired up for doing more. It was such fun to do! We actually have a poster for The Pirates! In an Adventure with Cowboys!. That would have been just great". [63] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Smurfs | The Smurfs 3 | By May 2012, just two weeks after production of The Smurfs 2 was announced, Sony Pictures Animation and Columbia Pictures had been already developing a script for The Smurfs 3, with writers Karey Kirkpatrick and Chris Poche. [64] Hank Azaria, who played the live-action Gargamel, said that the third film "might actually deal with the genuine origin of how all these characters ran into each other way back when". [65] In March 2014, Sony announced to reboot the series with a completely computer-animated film, which eventually became Smurfs: The Lost Village , released in April 2017. [66] |
Feature film | Untitled Tonka film | In 2012, an animated film based on the Tonka trucks toy line was in development. It was to be produced by Sony Pictures Animation, Hasbro Studios (currently known as Hasbro Entertainment), and Happy Madison Productions, and to be distributed by Columbia Pictures. [67] A script was written by Fred Wolf, and was to be produced by Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, Brian Goldner (CEO and president of Hasbro), and Bennett Schneir (Hasbro's senior vice president and managing director of motion pictures). [67] |
Kazorn & The Unicorn | In 2012, Kelly Asbury was in the talks with Sony Pictures Animation to make an animated fantasy film titled Kazorn & The Unicorn. It would've followed the adventures of a young man and a unicorn as he seeks to locate a powerful weapon and prove his worth to his true love. Lloyd Taylor was writing the screenplay. Sam Raimi, Josh Donen and Russell Hollander were producing. [68] Troy Quane was joined in to co-direct the film with Asbury. [69] | |
ALF | In May 2012, Paul Fusco was pitching an ALF film. [70] Three months later, Sony Pictures Animation acquired the rights to ALF, to develop the property into a CGI-live action hybrid film. The Smurfs producer Jordan Kerner was to produce the film, along with Tom Patchett and Paul Fusco. [71] | |
Secret Histories | In 2012, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein were attached to rewrite the script for a live-action/animated film titled Secret Histories, based on the book series by Ari Berk. The previous draft was written by Tom Wheeler. [72] | |
Manimal | By September 2012, Sony Pictures Animation was developing a live-action/CGI film based on Manimal , with series creator Glen A. Larson attached as a producer. [73] By July 2014, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay through their Gary Sanchez Productions, and Jimmy Miller through his Mosaic Media Group were attached to produce the film. [74] Jay Martel and Ian Roberts were hired to write the script. [74] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Genndy Tartakovsky's Can You Imagine? | By March 2014, Hotel Transylvania director Genndy Tartakovsky was working on an animated film titled Can You Imagine?. [75] The project was to tell "a fantastic journey through one boy's imagination", [44] but by July 2017, the project was cancelled. [76] [77] |
Medusa | In June 2014, Lauren Faust was attached to direct an animated comedy feature film titled Medusa, which was based on a pitch from Todd Alcott and Holly Golden. The film was to be a new story about the character of the same name from Greek mythology, in which she sets out on a quest to revert the curse she earned from a jealous goddess. [78] Faust left the project the following year in November. [79] | |
Superbago | In 2014, Sony Pictures Animation was working on a live-action/stop-motion film titled Superbago, with Robot Chicken executive producers John Harvatine and Eric Towner directing, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jared Hess and Eric Robinson producing, and Hess, Ricky Blitt, Hubbel Palmer and Chris Bowman writing the script, which was to center on a pair of superhero wannabes. [80] In 2019, it was confirmed that the film would be turned into a TV series instead. [81] | |
The Super Mario Bros. Movie | In December 2014, information leaked that Sony Pictures made a deal with Nintendo to create an animated film based on the Mario franchise. [82] The project however never went into development. By November 2017, Nintendo teamed up with Universal Pictures and Illumination to make the animated Mario film. [83] [84] [85] [86] The film was released on April 5, 2023. [87] [88] | |
Playmobil: The Movie | An animated feature film based on Playmobil, the film originally involved Bob Persichetti as director and screenwriter. Persichetti initially pitched the film to Sony Pictures Animation. Although Sony tried to buy the pitch, it fell through. He was eventually offered instead to direct the 2018 superhero film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse . [89] The film later moved to Method Animation for a 2019 release. | |
Super Smash Bros. | According to the hacked Sony emails, two emails show that Sony was interested in making a film based on Nintendo's crossover fighting game series of the same name. The email was written by former Sony Pictures Animation president Michelle Raimo Kouyate and was sent to Amy Pascal. [90] | |
Rabbids | In 2014, Ubisoft teamed up with Sony Pictures Animation to potentially make a live-action/animated hybrid film based on Rabbids. However, it never got far into development. [91] The project was eventually moved to Lionsgate, complete with Todd Strauss-Schulson as the director. At the same time, other companies including Ubisoft Film & Television, Mandeville Films, and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios are involved in the project. [92] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Untitled Crash Bandicoot film | Artist Charles Zembillas stated on his blog back in 2015 that there was some chatter about a potential film adaptation of the Crash Bandicoot video game series at Sony Pictures Animation, but nothing has come out since then. [93] In 2023, on Twitter, current series developer Toys for Bob stated that they wouldn't mind a film adaptation of the games in a rather jokey way after the successful release of Illumination's The Super Mario Bros. Movie . [94] |
Series | Title | Description |
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The Boondocks | The Boondocks reboot | At Annecy 2019, Sony Pictures Animation announced to produce a "reimagining" of the television series. A reboot of the series was officially announced in June with McGruder and voice actor John Witherspoon confirmed to be returning from the original series, before his death on October 29 the same year. [95] [96] The reboot was slated to stream on HBO Max in fall 2020 but this was later postponed to 2021 and then again to 2022. The service ordered two seasons, 24 episodes total with a 50-minute special. The complete run of the original 2005 series was also made available on the service. [97] [98] By February 2022, Sony shelved the reboot. [99] One year later, in an interview with Gary Anthony Williams, he revealed that the reason for the reboot's cancellation was that it took too long to make. Williams also revealed he had finished voiceover recordings for eight episodes as Uncle Ruckus before the cancellation. [100] |
Series | Title | Description |
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Feature film | Bubble | Sony Pictures Animation announced that an animated film adaptation of Bubble was in development, [101] [102] with Morris set to write the script. [103] Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who previously worked on Sausage Party , signed on to produce through their company Point Grey Pictures, [104] [105] alongside Matt Tolmach. [106] James Weaver, Kyle Hunter, David Manpearl, Ariel Shaffir and Morris were announced as executive producers, [107] but was finally cancelled in July 2023.[ citation needed ] |
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | Planet of the Grapes | Phil Lord revealed via Twitter in September 2023 that there was a script for a third film for the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs series of films titled Planet of the Grapes, which is supposed to be a spoof of Planet of the Apes and the aforementioned upcoming film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes directed by Wes Ball. [108] |
Gennady Borisovich "Genndy" Tartakovsky is a Soviet-born American animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known as the creator of various animated television series on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, including Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sym-Bionic Titan, Primal, and Unicorn: Warriors Eternal.
Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio is based in Culver City, California. Most of the studio's films are distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Releasing under their Columbia Pictures label, while direct-to-video releases are released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Pooch Café is a Canadian-American gag-a-day comic strip written and illustrated by Paul Gilligan. It was also made into a series of online shorts with RingTales.
Kelly Adam Asbury was an American film director, writer, voice actor, and illustrator. He was best known for directing animated films, including Shrek 2, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Gnomeo & Juliet, Smurfs: The Lost Village, and UglyDolls.
Popeye the Sailor is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar. The character first appeared on January 17, 1929, in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre. The strip was in its tenth year when Popeye made his debut, but the one-eyed sailor quickly became the lead character, and Thimble Theatre became one of King Features' most popular properties during the 1930s. Following Segar's death in 1938, Thimble Theatre was continued by several writers and artists, most notably Segar's assistant Bud Sagendorf. The strip continues to appear in first-run installments on Sundays, written and drawn by R. K. Milholland. The daily strips are reprints of old Sagendorf stories.
Hotel Transylvania is a 2012 American animated monster comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The first installment in the Hotel Transylvania franchise, it was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky from a screenplay by Peter Baynham and Robert Smigel, and a story by Todd Durham, Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman, based on an original concept created by Durham. The film stars the voices of Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade and CeeLo Green.
Paramount Animation is an American animation studio, serving as the animation division and label of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The division was founded on July 6, 2011, following the box office success of Paramount's own Rango and the end of their distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation in 2012.
Hotel Transylvania 2 is a 2015 American animated monster comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with LStar Capital, animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and written by Robert Smigel and Adam Sandler, it is the second installment in the Hotel Transylvania franchise, serving as the sequel to Hotel Transylvania (2012).
Hotel Transylvania is an American media franchise created by Todd Durham and owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. It consists of four animated feature films, three short films, an animated television series, and several video games.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation is a 2018 American animated monster comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the third installment in the Hotel Transylvania franchise and the sequel to Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015), the film was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, written by Tartakovsky and Michael McCullers, and features Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, Sadie Sandler, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Asher Blinkoff and Mel Brooks reprising their roles, with new additions to the cast including Jim Gaffigan, Kathryn Hahn, Joe Jonas, Chrissy Teigen, Joe Whyte, Tara Strong and Tartakovsky, while Chris Parnell, who voiced The Fly in the first two films, voices Stan. In the film, Dracula finds love with a ship captain named Ericka while he embarks on a vacation on a luxury cruise liner with his family and friends, but Mavis later discovers that Ericka is actually the great-granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing, Drac's arch-nemesis who secretly plan to destroy them.
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is a 2022 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation and released by Amazon Studios. It is the fourth and final feature film in the Hotel Transylvania franchise and the sequel to Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018), the film was directed by Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluska from a screenplay by Amos Vernon, Nunzio Randazzo and Genndy Tartakovsky. It stars the voices of Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kathryn Hahn, Jim Gaffigan, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Brian Hull, Fran Drescher, Brad Abrell, Asher Blinkoff, Tyler "Ninja" Blevins and Zoe Berri. In the film, Dracula and Johnny team up to find a crystal in South America to turn themselves back into normal, before their transformations become permanent.
Gordon A. Sheehan, was an American animator and cartoonist. He spent the early part of his career at Fleischer Studios animating notable features such as Betty Boop, Popeye, Superman, and Gulliver's Travels, among other works.
Fixed is an upcoming American adult animated comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation. The first adult animated film from SPA and the first traditionally animated film, it is being produced and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Vitti, and co-produced with Michelle Murdocca. The film features the voices of Adam DeVine, Idris Elba, Kathryn Hahn, Fred Armisen, Bobby Moynihan, and Beck Bennett. The film follows a blue bloodhound who discovers that he is going to be neutered in the morning.
Basically, it's dead. We were so successful with it, our test and the story we'd put together. But at the end of the day, they wanted a new Popeye and I wasn't willing to go where they had in mind. Back then, the concept was Popeye but not Popeye. We were okay with changing his clothes, but there was a lot we wanted to stick to. So that was that. God, that was eight years ago, and I still get asked about it sometimes. It could've been good, but hey.
There was a script! The title was PLANET OF THE GRAPES