NWave Studios

nWave Studios

Company type	Private
Industry	CGI animation 4D films
Founded	1994;31 years ago (1994)
Founder	Ben Stassen
Headquarters	Brussels, Belgium
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Eric Dillens (CEO)
Products	Animated films
Owner	MZM (majority stake)
Website	www.nwave.com

nWave Studios is a Belgian animation studio based in Brussels, Belgium, with an American office in Los Angeles, California.

History

nWave Studios was founded in 1994 by Ben Stassen. ^[1]

In September 2018, Matthieu Zeller's production group MZM acquired a majority stake in nWave Pictures. ^[2]

Productions

Feature films

Title	Release date	Co-production with	Distributor(s)	Gross
Fly Me to the Moon	30 January 2008	Illuminata Pictures uMedia uFilm	Kinepolis Film Distribution Summit Entertainment	$46.6 million
A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures	4 August 2010	StudioCanal		$70.6 million
A Turtle's Tale 2: Sammy's Escape from Paradise	15 August 2012			$49.2 million
The House of Magic	25 December 2013	StudioCanal Anton Capital Entertainment uMedia	Belga Films StudioCanal	$64.1 million
Robinson Crusoe	30 March 2016	Illuminata Pictures uFilm		$40 million
The Son of Bigfoot	16 February 2018	StudioCanal Belga Productions Illuminata Pictures Waterman Entertainment		$47 million
The Queen's Corgi	3 April 2019	Belga Films		$35.5 million
Bigfoot Family	5 August 2020	Octopolis	Charades Netflix	$11 million
Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness	16 February 2022 [3]		Sony Pictures International Productions Netflix	$11 million
The Inseparables	10 August 2023 [4]		Belga Films A Contracorriente Films	$2.3 million
Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog	15 October 2025 [5]		SND (France) Sony Pictures (International)	$919,182 [6]

In development

Title	Release date	References
Untitled Jean-Paul Gaultier project	2027	[7]
Yugly	TBA	[8]

3D films

• Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun (1997)
• Magic Carpet Adventure (1998)
• Encounter in the Third Dimension (1999)
• Alien Adventure (1999)
• Haunted Castle (2001)
• SOS Planet (2002)
• Misadventures in 3D (2003)
• Haunted House (2004)
• Wild Safari 3D (2005)
• Jett and Jin (2006)
• African Adventure: Safari in the Okavango (2007)
• Fly Me to the Moon 4D (2008)
• The Curse of Skull Rock (2009)
• Turtle Vision (2010)
• Pirate Story (2011)
• The Little Prince (2011)
• Castle Secret (2011)
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (2012)
• Deepo: A Fish Story (2012) ^[9]
• The Good, The Bad and a Horse (2013)
• The House of Magic 4D (2013)
• Sherlock Holmes (2013)
• The Lost World (2013) ^[10]
• Haunted Mansion (2014)
• Knights Quest (2014)
• Robinson Crusoe 3D (2016)
• Birds of a Feather (2016)
• Return to the Lost World (2017)
• The Son of Bigfoot 4D (2017)
• Jolly Roger (2018)
• Chaos in Wonderland (2019)
• Dog Games (2019)
• Rex: A Royal Topdog (2019)
• Bigfoot Family 4D (2020)
• Wanted Alive (2021)
• Trapper's Adventures (2022)
• Meg and the Lost Specter (2022)
• Happy Family: Next Level (2023) ^[11]
• Theater of Dreams (2023) ^[12]
• Meg and the Quest for the Holy Spork (2025)

Reception

Box office grosses

Film	Budget	North America		Overseas gross	Worldwide gross (unadjusted)	Ref(s)
		Opening	Gross (unadjusted)
Fly Me to the Moon	$25 million
A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures	—
A Turtle's Tale 2: Sammy's Escape from Paradise	—
The House of Magic	$34 million
Robinson Crusoe	$13 million
The Son of Bigfoot	$20 million
The Queen's Corgi	$25 million	—	—	$35,515,687	$35,515,687	[13]
Bigfoot Family	$25 million
Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness	$20 million	—	—	—	—	[14]

Critical and public response

Each film is linked to the "Critical response" section of its article

Film	Critical		Public
	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore
Fly Me to the Moon	20%
A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures	44%
A Turtle's Tale 2: Sammy's Escape from Paradise	20%
The House of Magic	71%
Robinson Crusoe	17%
The Son of Bigfoot	76%
The Queen's Corgi	0%	—	—
Bigfoot Family	76%
Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness	60%

References

1. "nWave Studios – Profile (March 6, 2013)" (PDF).
2. Keslassy, Elsa (2018-09-20). "Ben Stassen's nWave Acquired by Production Group MZM (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved 2019-04-02.
3. Coates, Charlotte (22 March 2022). "Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness: nWave's latest film shares universal message". BlooLoop. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
4. Keslassy, Elsa (12 May 2022). "'Toy Story' Writers, nWave Team on $25 Million Animated Feature 'The Inseparables' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
5. "DÉCOUVREZ LA BANDE ANNONCE DE HOPPER ET LE SECRET DE LA MARMOTTE, AU CINÉMA LE 15 OCTOBRE". Salles Obscures. 1 July 2025.
6. "Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog". BoxOfficeMojo. IMDBpro. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
7. Goodfellow, Melanie (13 June 2024). "Jean-Paul Gaultier & NWave Unveil First Images For Animated Movie About A Fashionista Moth Featuring Rossy De Palma In Voice Cast – Annecy". Deadline. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
8. "A new project on the way for nWave Studios! Stay tuned✨". Instagram. 13 March 2024.
9. Rubin, Judith (2011-08-12). "nWave Pictures has a new home in Burbank; acquires distribution rights for "Deepo"". InPark Magazine.
10. Kleiman, Joe (2013-11-19). "nWave Pictures Introduces Red Star's "The Lost World 4D" at IAAPA Attractions Expo". InPark Magazine. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
11. Whittaker, Adam (2022-07-06). "Mack Animation presents Happy Family Next Level 4D". Blooloop.
12. "nWave launches 4D/3D attraction Theater of Dreams at IAAPA Expo in Orlando". Blooloop. November 27, 2023.
13. "The Queen's Corgi". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 16 February 2025.
14. Van Gils, Lieven (16 February 2022). ""Hopper & de hamster der duisternis": een Belgische haas met kippenpoten gaat de concurrentie aan met Disney en Pixar" ["Hopper & the Hamster of Darkness": A Belgian Chicken Feet Hare Takes on the Competition with Disney and Pixar]. VRT (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 May 2022.

External links

• Official website