HALIFAX – DHX Media has signed a deal with Sony Pictures Animation to expand the blockbuster film franchise Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs into television with a brand-new adaptation.
The deal will see DHX Media develop and produce twenty-six 22-minute, traditionally animated small-screen episodes of the acclaimed computer-generated animated feature films, and includes global television and non-U.S. home entertainment exploitation rights to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series (Sony will distribute home entertainment in the U.S.). The deal also has DHX Media representing merchandising for the television series on a worldwide basis.
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs has a tremendous legacy as beloved children’s books and a duo of highly popular feature films, showing how great ideas can succeed across media”, said DHX Media president and COO Steven DeNure, in the news release. “We believe audiences both old and new are going to love this fiercely funny franchise reimagined for the small screen.”
“DHX’s track record in creating great kids’ television content makes them an ideal partner to capture the unique humour and tone of Flint Lockwood and his friends that made the theatrical franchise so successful”, added Rick Mischel, executive producer at Sony Pictures Animation.
The 2009 mouth-watering animated comedy Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its 2013 sequel, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, were produced by Sony Pictures Animation, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. Both films were critical and commercial successes which grossed a combined $510 million in theatres.
