The Amazing Maurice 2 - The Waters of Life, the squeakquel to the beautifully animated Sky Original The Amazing Maurice has had an update in its race to be produced.
Epsilon Film have been very busy selling the film to distributors worldwide.
The UK (Sky), France (KMBP), Spain (Flins y Piniculas), South Korea (Bluelabel), Portugal (NOS), Greece (Rosebud), Ukraine (Green Light), South Africa (Empire Entertainment), Turkey (Filmarti), Vietnam (Mockingbird), Ex-Yugoslavia (Investacommerce), the Middle East (Selim Ramia & Co), the Baltics (GPI) and North America (Viva Pictures) alongside Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Bulgaria.(all Prorom Media) have acquired the rights for their respective regions so far.
This means that the film is on the road to production as it means that the funding is in place.
The wonderful creative team behind The Amazing Maurice have reunited for this second Maurice adventure which will be directed by Toby Genkel with producers Emely Christians, Andrew Baker and Robert Chandler with Rob Wilkins. Character design by Carter Goodrich and Heiko Hentschel with the script written by Giles New and Keiron Self.
Red Star and Studio Rakete are the studios behind the beautiful animation.
So what will be the plot I hear you ask ?
Maurice, the most amazing cat in the world, or so he says, along with Malicia, Keith and the Clan Rats, are back for another thrilling adventure in a tale of pirates, vampires, werewolves and sirens, a furless cat and a perilous quest to find the Waters of Life.
Maurice, living with Malicia and Keith in Bad Blintz, fears he is becoming domesticated. He steals away, hopping onto a barge, hoping to find a new life at sea as a ship’s cat, something he’s always wanted.
Malicia’s father, the Mayor, is seriously ill. Malicia learns the only thing that might save him is the Waters of Life, which her aunts, the Grim Sisters, wrote about in their ‘Grim Book of Fairy Stories’. Malicia and Peaches head to the docks and stow away on a barge sailing up the river… only to find Maurice aboard.
The barge is attacked by ‘The Lorelei’, a pirate ship captained by a furless cat, Admiral Katz. Maurice wants Katz’ job.
Katz surprises Maurice by telling him he can’t have it - Katz can talk, too! Maurice doesn’t like that. Cue the catfight.
Keith, who should have accompanied Malicia on her quest, travels with the Clan Rats in a bid to catch up with Malicia. Their journey sees them facing vampires in recovery therapy and a werewolf who is a balding literary scholar by day in the forests of Uberwald.
Will our heroes meet eventually?
Will Malicia find the Waters of Life?
Will Keith lose his trousers?
You bet… but not in any way that’s expected.
We know many Terry Pratchett fans will be asking Why? What? How?
Terry was always happy for Discworld to continue in other media - Film, video games, role playing games, guides, encyclopedias, maps etc.
However, he was clear about there being no new novels after his passing, so much so he had his hard drive crushed by Rob Wilkins using a steam roller and a rock crusher.
The plot behind The Amazing Maurice 2 - The Waters of Life was hinted at in the original The Amazing Maurice novel and we are sure Terry had had discussions with Rob Wilkins about where that might have headed, as Terry would often discuss potential scenes or plots with him before heading into writing anything.
We trust that the team will tell this story in a way Terry would have been proud of, and with Rob Wilkins from Dunmanifestin/Narrativia/The Terry Pratchett estate/Big Wee Hag on board as a producer, there is no way he would allow them to screw it up.
After all, Terry's greatest gift to Rob was the ability to say NO.
Terry's legacy was always going to have to find ways to bring new fans to the books, and what better way than to grab the imagination of young readers and draw them in than a cuddly orange cat?
Anyway…
This family friendly film will be 90 mins long and it will be at least 2 years before any of us get to see it. I personally cannot wait !
In the meantime, here is some beautiful concept artwork for your eyes.
Stills taken from Epsilon Films