Sonnenfeld Produces Space Chimps
Vanguard Animation, Starz Media Will Produce Film, Fox to Distribute
Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black, Enchanted) will produce animated comedy Space Chimps. Kirk DeMicco directs story of chimps sent to a galaxy far, far away.
(Source: www.variety.com)
Barry Sonnenfeld, the man behind such flicks as Get Shorty, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and the Men in Black franchise, will produce the animated comedy Space Chimps for Vanguard Animation and Starz Media. Twentieth Century Fox will distribute the flick.
This is Sonnenfeld's second foray into the world of animation, since he is also producing the live-action/cel animation hybrid Enchanted for Walt Disney Studios. He has been a creative consultant for Space Chimps since last fall. He will join John H. Williams (Valiant, Shrek, Happily N'Ever After), who was already producing the flick.
Here's the movie's synopsis, pulled directly from the Vanguard site: "Space Chimps is a comedy adventure about two N.A.S.A. chimps that are sent to a galaxy far, far away. One chimp has "The Right Stuff," and the other, a good natured goofball, has "The Wrong Stuff." The two chimps find themselves on a strange, uncharted planet, where they embark on a fantastical journey to save its inhabitants from a tyrannical leader."
According to Wikipedia, the ne'er-do-well chimp is called Ham III, and is supposed to be the grandson of the first chimpanzee ever sent into space.
Kirk DeMicco (Racing Stripes, Crood Awakening, Casper's Scare School) will direct the flick from a script he co-wrote with first-timer Simon Goltsman. IMDb also lists David Goetsch, Jason Venokur and Ross Venokur as co-writers on Space Chimps.
Andy Samberg (Hot Rod) will voice the leading role of Ham III, aka the goofball chimp. Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) will voice the senator who gets Ham shot into space, and Jeff Daniels (Dumb and Dumber) will play the evil tyrant who gets his ass handed to him by two monkeys. Cheryl Hines (Waitress), Cameron Bright (X-Men: The Last Stand), Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked, Rapunzel), Omid Abtahi (CSI), Patrick Warburton (The Tick, Happily N'Ever After) and Kenan Thompson (SNL) have also signed up for the voice cast.
Former Eurythmics guitarist Dave Stewart will provide the music for the film, along with performance artists Blue Man Group.
Space Chimps is scheduled for a May of 2008 theatrical release.
Fun Fact 1: I guess Barry Sonnenfeld really likes American author Elmore Leonard. He's produced several Leonard adapations such as 1995's Get Shorty, 1998's Out of Sight and Maximum Bob, plus Dave Barry's Elmore Leonard spoof Big Trouble.
Fun Fact 2: Yes, it's that Andy Samberg, aka the guy behind the Saturday Night Live songs "Lazy Sunday" and the duet with Justin Timberlake "D*** in a Box."
Fun Fact 3: The current poster for Space Chimp advertises the flick as "From the producer of Valiant." Considering that John H. Williams also has the entire Shrek franchise to his credit, why did Vanguard associate themselves with a box office bomb like Valiant?
