Spellbound – Picture: Netflix
If you’re a fan of animated movies, Netflix and Skydance Animation have formed a multi-year partnership with their entire slate of upcoming feature films coming to Netflix. Below, we’ll preview all the movies we know are coming soon to Netflix.
In case you missed the news, Skydance Animation has switched allegiances with a new deal that Ari Emanuel teased at the Bloomberg Screentime event in Los Angeles in early October before being confirmed on October 18th. They initially worked exclusively with Apple for their streaming service Apple TV+, releasing the 2023 movie Luck plus Wondla and Blush.
John Lasseter, best known for his work at Disney Pixar, heads up Skydance Animation and its creative vision along with the President of Skydance Animation, Holly Edwards.
What’s on Netflix contributor and independent analyst Emily Horgan has written a piece about why the jump from Apple to Netflix is such a big and important deal for both companies. Horgan predicts Lassiter is “betting that Netflix, who undoubtedly remains the dominating streaming platform, will be able to deliver that critical mass of audiences and success to his studio’s output. There could even be marketing commitment thrown in, plus a guarantee of proper consumer product activation in the newly announced bricks and mortar “Netflix House” stores.”
It’s worth noting that Netflix’s collaboration with Skydance extends beyond just animation. Skydance Media produces a number of features for Netflix, such as the upcoming The Old Guard Chapter Two: Force Multiplied. On the TV side, they’re working on the Terminator anime series as well as a new buddy comedy starring Jane Lynch and Cyndi Lauper. That’s in addition to their output on the service thus far.
Now, let’s dig into Skydance Animation’s upcoming slate:
Spellbound
Coming to Netflix: November 22nd, 2024
Picture: Skydance Animation
The first movie to be released from this new partnership will be coming out in 2024 in the form of Spellbound, which comes from DreamWorks alum Vicky Jenson. Her projects at DreamWorks included Madagascar, Shark Tale, and Shrek.
Here’s the logline for the new movie:
“Princess Ellian is the tenacious ruler who must go on a daring quest to save her family. She must break the spell that transformed her parents into monsters or Lumbria will be covered in darkness forever.”
Rachel Zegler leads the voice cast for the movie and is joined by the likes of Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, John Lithgow, Nathan Lane, Jordan Fisher, Jenifer Lewis, and Olga Merediz.
Pookoo
Coming to Netflix: 2025
POOKOO
The new movie will be directed and written by Nathan Greno, who is once again another Disney alum best known for co-directing Disney’s Tangled.
Here’s what you can expect:
“A small woodland creature and a majestic bird, two natural sworn enemies of The Valley, that magically trade places and set off on an adventure of a lifetime.”
Siddhartha Khosla will provide music for the feature, which is due out in 2025.
A first look was released for the movie at the Next on Netflix Animation presentation in June 2024.
Ray Gunn
Coming to Netflix: TBD
LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 05: Director Brad Bird attends the World Premiere of Disney and Pixar’s ‘Incredibles 2’ on June 5, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Far off into the distance will be Brad Bird’s first significant project away from Disney, where he’s been a fixture of Pixar for decades. He’s worked in various capacities, including directing hits like The Incredibles 1 and 2 and Ratatouille. Bird has directed Tomorrowland and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in the live-action space.
The movie was first announced in February 2022, but the project has been in development in various forms since the 1990s when Bird was at WB Animation alongside Matthew Robbins.
Plot details are mostly under wraps, except for the fact that we know the original script was a retro-futuristic detective story set in the sprawling, magnificent city of Metropia.
Michael Giacchino is set to be the composer for the new movie.
According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter in June 2024, the movie will be hand-drawn and exceed a budget of $150 million.
Untitled Jack and the Beanstalk
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney
The source material will undoubtedly be familiar to most, with numerous adaptations over the years in many forms from the likes of Warner Bros., Disney, and others. Jack and the Beanstalk is a world-renowned English fairy tale about a boy named Jack who trades a cow for magic beans, leading to a giant beanstalk that grows into the sky and his adventures in the giant’s realm.
Directing this movie will be another Disney alum in the form of Rich Moore, who worked on Wreck-it Ralph and Zooptia. Moore also worked extensively on Futurama too.
Netflix isn’t just reliant on new movies from Skydance Animation, either—it has a slew of content coming up from either its own internal studios or external partners. You can find more on Netflix’s upcoming slate of animated movies here.
What new Skydance Animation movies are you looking forward to watching on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below.
