Twentieth Century Fox and Locksmith Animation, the UK’s new high-end CG feature animation studio, have today revealed their inaugural project together, Ron’s Gone Wrong. Co-Directors Alessandro Carloni (Kung Fu Panda 3) and Pixar Story vet J.P. Vine (Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur) will helm the film for a November 2020 release.
Ron’s Gone Wrong is the first project in the recently announced multi-year production partnership between Twentieth Century Fox and Locksmith Animation, which is expected to deliver one film every 12-18 months. Locksmith Animation will develop and produce the project end-to-end in London with partners Double Negative providing digital production.
The multi award-winning creative team assembled for Ron’s Gone Wrong includes Production Designer Nathan Crowley (Dunkirk, Interstellar, The Dark Knight) with Aurelien Predal (Mune, The Little Prince), Character Designer Carter Goodritch (Ratatouille, Despicable Me), Editor David Burrows (The LEGO Movie), Cinematographer David Peers (Happy Feet), and VFX Supervisor Philippe Denis (Trolls). Writers are Peter Baynham (Borat, Hotel Transylvania) and Sarah Smith (Arthur Christmas) and Producer is Lara Breay (Megamind, Penguins of Madagascar). Julie Lockhart and Sarah Smith serve as Locksmith Producers with co-Founder Elisabeth Murdoch as Executive Producer, alongside Peter Baynham. Ron’s Gone Wrong will be distributed worldwide by Twentieth Century Fox.
Sarah Smith and Julie Lockhart, co-Founders of Locksmith Animation, said: “While we have set our bar for talent extremely high, the team assembled in London for Ron’s Gone Wrong is truly exceptional, including some of the most respected and dynamic film-makers working in feature animation today. It’s a brilliant launchpad for our UK studio, and with our partners at Twentieth Century Fox we are on an exciting journey.”
At a licensing presentation on October 9 at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London to showcase some of Twentieth Century Fox’s forthcoming plans in the animation space, Locksmith Animation Founders and Co-CEO’s Sarah Smith and Julie Lockhart revealed the title and shared a first look at the project, including concept art, animation tests and plot points.
Ron’s Gone Wrong tells the story of the wonderful walking, talking, digitally connected bot that sweeps the world becoming every kid’s new Best Friend. But when an eleven-year-old boy ends up with one that doesn’t work, his attempts to teach it become a hilarious, heart-warming exploration of what real friendship means in a world of algorithms and social media.
