Trevor Noah Is Working On An Animated Feature At Paramount

Trevor Noah is the latest celebrity convert to animation. The South African comedian and host of The Daily Show is working on an untitled animated feature at Paramount Animation.

Here is what we know right now:

• Nothing has been revealed about the film other than that it’s based on an original idea of Noah’s, and will be “timely, poignant, and comedic.” The script will be written by Jonathan Groff (the Black-ish writer, not the Frozen actor) and Jon Pollack (Modern Family).
• Noah will produce through his Day Zero Productions banner, alongside president of production Haroon Saleem. Norman Aladjem, Derek Van Pelt, and Sanaz Yamin of Mainstay Entertainment are also producing.
• Day Zero has a first-look deal with ViacomCBS, which owns both Paramount and The Daily Show broadcaster Comedy Central. A live-action adaptation of Noah’s memoir Born a Crime is currently in development at Paramount.
• Paramount Animation has been on something of a turnaround since Mireille Soria was hired to lead it in 2017. Soria, a former Dreamworks and Disney executive, was tasked with boosting the struggling division’s output, aiming for two movies a year.
• The studio’s big 2020 release, The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run, hasn’t actually come out in the U.S. yet: Covid delayed it then sent it to streaming platform CBS All Access (soon-to-be Paramount+) where it will premiere on March 4. The film that was due to be its next release, Rumble, was recently pushed back from May 14, 2021 to February 18, 2022.

The news was first reported by Variety.