Twentieth Century Fox has acquired distribution rights for the U.S. and for most major international territories to Walking with Dinosaurs, the CGI and live-action 3D feature film being produced by Reliance Big Pictures, Evergreen Films and BBC Earth. The deal, negotiated between Fox and sales and financing company IM Global, was announced today by Emma Watts, president of production for Twentieth Centuy Fox. BBC Worldwide Managing Director Marcus Arthur and IM Global CEO Stuart Ford.
Walking with Dinosaurs will use live-action footage of scenery and CGI creatures to create an intimate and engaging 3D adventure for the entire family, transporting audiences to a breathtaking prehistoric world when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
The big budget production is co-directed by Neil Nightengale and Pierre De Lespinois, and written by John Collee (Happy Feet).
In addition to U.S. distribution rights, Fox picked up rights in a number of key international markets, including the U.K., France, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Latin America and others. Reliance subsidiary IM Global has, since the film’s launch at AFM last week, now sold out worldwide rights with other key territory buyers including Constantin (Germany), Alliance (Canada), Aurum (Spain) and Dutch Filmworks (Benelux).
The popular six-part television series, on which the film is based, debuted on the BBC in 1999 and has reached an audience of more than 700 million people. A subsequent live arena show began touring globally in 2007 and has played to more than 6.5 million fans.
Said Emma Watts: “‘Walking with Dinosaurs’ has been a huge success in the live tour and on TV and the franchise is perfect for a big screen event, 3D adaptation. We love it!”
Said Marcus Arthur: “I am thrilled that Twentieth Century Fox will be bringing ‘Walking with Dinosaurs 3D’ to audiences the world over. Film is the next big step for this global franchise and we’re creating an incredible cinema experience by combining the BBC’s expertise in Natural History with Evergreen Films unique 3D technology. I can’t wait to astound everyone with ‘Walking with Dinosaurs 3D’ on the big screen.”
The deal was negotiated by IM Global Founder and CEO Ford with several Fox executives over the weekend, as several other studios competed for the film.
