Shout! Factory and Legacy Classics make plans for an animated Boxcar Children movie series
Shout! Factory and Legacy Classics announced today that they have entered into a long-term, multifaceted production partnership and film distribution deal that has plans to develop a slate of new family movies based on several best-selling classic and contemporary children’s book series. One of the first projects on the slate is a Boxcar Children movie series, based on the popular young adult series.
The broad-ranging partnership will see Shout! Factory and Legacy Classics jointly develop, produce and market new animated features and live-action family movies for entertainment distribution. Legacy Classics will leverage their extensive relationships with publishers and authors, and bring hands-on production experience and marketing support for future film productions. Shout! Factory will co-produce these films with Legacy Classics and handle the sales and distribution for each movie across all platforms in North America, including theatrical, digital, broadcast, inflight and home entertainment through Shout! Factory Films and Shout! Factory Kids.
The Boxcar Children movie series will adapt the long running book series by Gertrude Chandler Warner. One of the best-selling children’s book series of all time, The Boxcar Children series — which includes 150 different books — has sold over 70 million books world-wide.
Aiming for a minimum of four feature-length movies over the first two years, Legacy Classics and Shout! Factory are launching their partnership with not just one animated Boxcar Children movie, but three. Working closely with publisher Albert Whitman & Company, the plan is to have the first Boxcar Children movie timed to the series’ 75th Anniversary in 2019.
“We are thrilled about this new opportunity with Legacy Classics, an innovative production company that has emerged as a major creative force in family entertainment. We share the same entrepreneurial vision that bodes well for the success of this collaboration,” said Shout! Factory’s founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos.
“This is exciting news for family entertainment,” adds Melissa Boag, Senior Vice President of Kids & Family Entertainment at Shout! Factory. “Legacy Classics, Dan and Mark have had extraordinary success in turning great stories into captivating family films. This new partnership makes strategic sense for both companies. We look forward to working closely with Legacy Classics in creating a pipeline of new family-friendly films for distribution across a wide variety of entertainment platforms.”
“We are excited to be working with Shout! Factory,” says Dan Chuba of Legacy Classics. “Our films will be based on some of the most cherished books in children’s literature. Shout’s on-going success with family entertainment and their entrepreneurial spirit make them an ideal partner. Together, we are committed to creating family entertainment that has a positive social impact on children and families around the world. We could not be happier!”
How do you feel about a new Boxcar Children movie? Are there any stories you’d like to see adapted first? Let us know in the comments below!
