Danny McBride Partners With Spire Animation Studios For Feature ‘Trouble’

Actor and comedian Danny McBride is partnering with Spire Animation Studios via his production company Rough House Pictures to develop an animated feature titled Trouble.

Trouble tells the story of 13-year-old Jax, who gets in trouble with his family and is swept into a parallel reality known as the World of Trouble. He embarks on an adventure, making new friends, reflecting on his character and learns the value of self-forgiveness, all while trying to figure out how to get out of trouble, and get back home.

McBride co-created the original story for Trouble with Spire’s CCO Brad Lewis (producer, Ratatouille, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World), pictured top left. Kevin Barnett and Chris Pappas (The Wrong Missy, The Do-Over) are writing the script. Spire’s P.J. Gunsagar, pictured top right, and Rough House Pictures’ Brandon James are executive producing. The film is currently in story and pre-production.

“The idea of being in trouble is a universal fear we’ve all experienced growing up,” said McBride. “Being able to build out what that world could look like and exploring how we can make this an animated adventure with Brad and the team at Spire has been awesome.”

While McBride is known mostly for comedic roles in films like Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, and This is the End, he’s also created or co-created HBO shows Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals, and The Righteous Gemstones. Additionally, he’s voice acted in several animated features such as Despicable Me, Kung Fu Panda 2, the Angry Birds movies, Sausage Party, and Netflix’s upcoming The Mitchells vs. The Machines.

Last year, Cartoon Brew reported on some of Spire Animation Studios’ key hires, as well as their first feature announced for development, Century Goddess, which centers on a young woman who learns that she is a once-in-a-century goddess, igniting a revolution through spoken word and song. Trouble is expected to be the studio’s second film.

Images at top courtesy of Spire Animation Studios.