STX Films Acquires Domestic Rights To Playmobil: The Movie

April 4, 2019

Variety has brought word that the upcoming animated adaptation of the popular German toyline, Playmobil: The Movie, has been picked up by STX Films for distribution in the United States, while Lionsgate will maintain the worldwide rights to the project.

After Charlie (Gabriel Bateman) disappears into the Playmobil universe, his sister, Marla (Anya Taylor-Joy), sets out to find him. During her adventures, she teams up with some unlikely new friends, including smooth-talking food truck driver Del (Jim Gaffigan), dashing and charismatic secret agent Rex Dasher (Daniel Radcliffe), a wholehearted misfit robot and an extravagant fairy-godmother (Meghan Trainor). Adam Lambert will voice the character of villain Emperor Maximus.

Playmobil toys have become a classic throughout children’s playrooms, and have produced over 2.9 billion figurines in more than 100 countries – making it one of the world’s most successful toy brands.

Lino DiSalvo will make his directorial debut on Playmobil: The Movie after spending 17 years at Disney Animation, where he served as head of animation on Frozen, the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Di Salvo also worked as animation supervisor on Tangled and Bolt.

“Playmobil: The Movie is an action-packed animated adventure led by a fantastic cast and the inimitable Lino DiSalvo,” Adam Fogelson, chairman of STXfilms, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to partner with On Animation Studios on this fun and original project, and look forward bringing a fresh take on the iconic Playmobil toy to the big screen for audiences across the U.S.”

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Blaise Hemingway, also from Disney, wrote the screenplay together with Greg Erb and Jason Oremland. The head of animation is Julien Bocabeille who is known as the animator on The Boss Baby and Kung Fu Panda 3. Aton Soumache, Dimitri Rassam, Emmanuel Jacomet, Alexis Vonarb and Oliver Stone regular Moritz Borman serve as producers who have also the same producers who have worked on The Little Prince.

Playmobil: The Movie was developed in cooperation with Pathé France and will be sold internationally by Lionsgate and Wild Bunch. The animated film was supposed to be released in the US by Open Road but fell through due to Global Road’s bankruptcy.

Playmobil: The Movie is due out in theaters summer of 2019.