Production has begun at Pinewood Studios outside London on Walt Disney Pictures‘ live-action/CG hybrid The One and Only Ivan, based on the award-winning children’s book by Katherine Applegate. Award-winning Danny DeVito and Helen Mirren have joined the voice cast, which includes the previously-announced Angelina Jolie, Sam Rockwell, and Brooklynn Prince. The live-action cast includes Bryan Cranston, Ramon Rodriquez, Arianna Greenblatt, Indira Varma, and Eleanor Matsuura.
The One and Only Ivan is being directed by Thea Sharrock (Me Before You) from the screenplay written by two-time Independent Spirit Award winner Mike White (Pitch Perfect 3, The School of Rock). Oscar and three-time Golden Globe winner Angelina Jolie (First They Killed My Father, Maleficent) is producing along with the late Allison Shearmur (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Cinderella) and Brigham Taylor (Christopher Robin, The Jungle Book).
Based on the true story of a uniquely-talented gorilla and the other animals who share a communal habitat at a suburban shopping mall, The One and Only Ivan is an unforgettable tale about the beauty of friendship, the power of visualization and the significance of the place we call home. Applegate’s book, a #1 New York Times’ bestseller, has won numerous awards, including the Newberry Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children in 2013.
The One and Only Ivan’s illustrated novel is inspired by the true story of a captive gorilla known as Ivan and is told from his point-of-view. Having spent 27 years behind the glass walls of his enclosure in a shopping mall, Ivan has grown accustomed to humans watching him. He hardly ever thinks about his life in the jungle. Instead, Ivan occupies himself with television, his friends Stella and Bob, and painting. But when he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from the wild, he is forced to see their home, and his art, through new eyes.
