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I caught an uber-early screening of Focus Feature’s “9” tonight, one of two animated films they have coming out in 2008 – the other being Henry Selick’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline.”
While it would be a disservice to comment much on the film (at least 10% of it was still storyboards — in fact, I highly doubt I saw a single frame of finished animation) giving that it’s still deep in production, I will say that one thing has become clear: Focus Features are certainly dedicated to making much darker animated films than anyone else in the market. I’ve heard “Coraline” is a PG-13, and I can’t imagine “9” getting a PG.
It will be interesting to see if Focus can become an animation powerhouse.
Regarding “9,” I will say this much: we all know what’s going to win Best Animated at the Oscars this year, and it’s not “9.”
5 responses so far
1 6-18-2008 at 2:50 am
Guy Lodge said...
I thought ‘9’ had been pushed back to 2009? Or have they flip-flopped again?
I agree that the Best Animated Feature race looks like a snooze this year, competition-wise – I hope something left-field like Waltz With Bashir at least gets nominated to add some interest.
2 6-18-2008 at 3:02 am
Kristopher Tapley said...
9 is indeed a 2009 release.
3 6-18-2008 at 8:22 am
Nick Plowman said...
Uber-early indeed.
4 6-18-2008 at 9:24 am
Brian Kinsley said...
Really? Because we were told at the screening it was still on for Christmas 08 – which seemed all kinds of ridiculous after seeing how rough the film was.
Also, the temp score was about 50% Batman Begins, the rest Kong and LOTR. Should give you a sense of the tone they are going for.