adaptation of Nimonaone of the great productions affected by the acquisition of Fox by Disney will finally see the light, thanks to Netflix
The movie of Nimona can finally be seen on Netflix. The animated adaptation of ND Stevenson’s webcomic was one of the casualties of Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox, canceled less than a year from its scheduled release date.
Stevenson had already announced that they were looking for potential buyers of the project. Now Stevenson has confirmed that the film will ultimately be adapted by Netflix with the backing of co-producer Annapurna Films. As originally planned, Nimona will feature Chloë Grace Moretz in the title role, with Riz Ahmed and Eugene Lee Yang in supporting roles. The film will premiere on Netflix in 2023.
Netflix confirmed the news by tweeting: “Nimona is coming to Netflix! In a future medieval land, shapeshifter Nimona @ChloeGMoretz bursts into the lives of heroic knights @rizwanahmed + @EugeneLeeYang and blows up everything they believe in. An epic animated film adapted from @Gingerhazing’s groundbreaking comic.”
Stevenson announced the news by tweeting: “Nimona has always been a brave little story that just wouldn’t stop. She’s a fighter… but she also has some really amazing people fighting for her. So excited to announce THE NIMONA THE MOVIE IS ALIVE… coming in 2023 from Annapurna and Netflix 🤘”
Nimona’s always been a spunky little story that just wouldn’t stop. She’s a fighter…but she’s also got some really awesome people fighting for her. I am excited out of my mind to announce that THE NIMONA MOVIE IS ALIVE…coming at you in 2023 from Annapurna and Netflix 🤘 pic.twitter.com/wEZuM2sXTt
— N.D. Stevenson (@Gingerhazing) April 11, 2022
Nick Bruno and Troy Quane are directing Nimona, while DNEG Animation is handling animation. Here is the official synopsis for the film:
A knight is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona, a shape-shifting teen who might also be a monster he swore to kill. Set in a techno-medieval world unlike anything animation has tackled before, this is a story about the labels we assign to people and the shapeshifter who refuses to be defined by anyone.
Stevenson first published a Nimona as a webcomic on Tumblr (which they also used for their senior thesis), earning it an Eisner nomination for Best Digital/Webcomic in 2014. It was collected and published as a graphic novel by HarperCollins in 2015, which became a bestseller , and won the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album – Reprint, a Cybils Award, and earned a Nation Book Award nomination.
Fox-owned Blue Sky Studio announced Nimona’s film later that year. Following Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox, the film faced multiple delays. Part of the team that worked on the project claimed that Disney executives (Interestingly the first studio Nimona was offered to adapt) they rejected the inclusion of explicit LGBTQ relationships and romantic themes. Disney, however, blamed the pandemic for the cancellation of the film, but the truth is that the film was almost finished when Disney bought FOX, and in fact the production budget was increased compared to what it had already been assigned, already with the house of the mouse with the control of Blue-Sky.
Nimona It had several previous showings with the public and the opinions were very positive. But even so, Disney decided to cancel it and focus their efforts before closing Blue-Sky and putting the staff before being fired or relocated within Disney, to work on the series of Ice Age: The Misadventures of Scrat for Disney+.
Since then, Stevenson has worked on Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. HBO Max is currently adapting another of her comic works, Lumberjanes.
With the confirmation that the two directors of Blue-Sky who were directing the project when it was canceled will be responsible for directing Nimona for Netflix, it can be inferred that they will continue production where they left off, which explains why we can see the film. next year.