‘Captain Underpants’ Director David Soren To Direct ‘Geronimo Stilton’ Animated Feature

Canadian filmmaker and voice actor David Soren (Captain Underpants, Turbo) has been tagged to helm an upcoming animated feature adaptation of the popular Geronimo Stilton children’s books.

Project details:

• Soren worked at Dreamworks for 22 years and has story artist credits on films including The Road to El Dorado, Chicken Run, and Shrek. His first theatrical feature as a director, Dreamworks’ Turbo, was nominated for a half-dozen Annie Awards and a BAFTA. After that, he helmed Captain Underpants, which stands out as one of the most visually innovative big studio features of its era. He is also the director of Paramount Animation’s upcoming Under the Boardwalk.
• The Geronimo Stilton books turn on an anthropomorphic mouse who is a best-selling writer, editor, and publisher living in New Mouse City on Mouse Island. Each book is presented as a memoir of one of Geronimo’s wild adventures. The titular character was created by Italian author Elisabetta Dami in the 1990s and has featured in more than 300 books since, selling more than 180 million copies in 150 countries.
• Film synopsis: “Longing to be taken seriously as a journalist and move beyond the cheesy puff pieces he’s usually assigned, Geronimo stumbles onto a conspiracy far bigger than anyone expected. He’s out of his league and with his eccentric family always up in his business, Geronimo’s problems seem insurmountable. But, working together, they might stand a chance as long as they can stay one step ahead of his foes in this explosive game of cat and mouse.”
• Radar Pictures, which recently acquired feature film rights to the entire book series, is producing in collaboration with Italy’s Atlantyca Entertainment, which manages international publishing, animation, and licensing rights to the book series. Radar founder Ted Field, who has produced over 60 films including the Jumanji franchise, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and Ferngully, will executive produce Geronimo Stilton. Atlantyca has already produced three seasons of the Geronimo Stilton animated series with co-producer Superprod and in association with Italian broadcaster Rai Kids.
• In a release, Soren said: “I’m excited to be working with Radar Pictures to bring this incredibly popular book series to life. Geronimo Stilton is beloved around the world and it’s high time for his first hilarious feature film adventure.”
• The Geronimo Stilton books are published by Edizioni Piemme in Italy, Scholastic in the U.S., and Sweet Cherry Publishing in the U.K.