Paramount Animation has landed the animated feature Blazing Samurai, which has an A-list voice cast led by Michael Cera.
The studio acquired the movie from GFM Animation for North America and other key international territories, setting a U.S. release of July 22, 2022.
Along with Cera, the voice cast includes Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, Mel Brooks, George Takei, Djimon Hounsou, Michelle Yeoh, Cathy Shim, Kylie Kuioka, Gabriel Iglesias and Aasif Mandvi.
Cera voices Hank, a dog who dreams of becoming a samurai in a land where that privilege is reserved exclusively for cats. He gets his chance when a post opens up in the small town of Kakamucho, but little does Hank know that the local warlord (Gervais) who hired him is bent on destroying the town for his own gain. Seemingly destined to fail, Hank coaxes a reluctant, once great samurai (Jackson) out of retirement to become his mentor, and together they become samurai heroes.
Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) and Mark Koetsier directed the film from an original screenplay by Ed Stone and Nate Hopper, with revisions by Robert Ben Garant and Minkoff. The project is produced by Aniventure and financed by Align, HB Wink and Aniventure, with CG production carried out at Cinesite.
Minkoff, Adam Nagle and Guy Collins produced the film. Alex Schwartz, Adrian Politowki and Martin Metz executive produced.
