German production outfit Ulysses Filmproduktion (Luis and the Aliens) has announced an animated feature film adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s 2001 novel The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, with Toby Genkel (Ooops! Noah is Gone) directing from a script by writer Terry Rossio (Aladdin).
The 28th Discworld novel, and the first to be written specifically for children, the book presents a new take on the Pied Piper of Hamelin and “follows Maurice, a streetwise cat, who has the perfect money-making scam. He finds a dumb-looking kid who plays a pipe and has his very own horde of rats, who are strangely literate. When Maurice and the rodents reach the stricken town of Bad Blintz, they discover that something very bad is waiting in the cellars.”
“The Amazing Maurice will be the first animated feature film ever made from a Terry Pratchett novel,” said Emely Christians, CEO of Ulysses (via Variety). “It will get Ulysses’ complete focus and attention to detail to fulfill our promise: to make a wonderful movie from this very funny, unique, strong and awesome story.”
The project is said to have been in development for several years now, and with financing on the $17 million-budgeted film almost in place, the producers are looking to ready the movie for release in early 2022.
