''Spellbound'' is an upcoming

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

directed by

Vicky Jenson Victoria "Vicky" Jenson (born March 4, 1960) is an American film director of both live-action and animated films. Retrieved April 9, 2014. She has directed projects for DreamWorks Animation, including ''Shrek'', the first film to win an Academy ...

from a screenplay by

Linda Woolverton Linda Woolverton (born December 19, 1952) is an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist, whose most prominent works include the screenplays and books of several acclaimed Disney films and stage musicals. She is the first woman to have wr ...

, Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin with music composed by

Alan Menken Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer, best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores and songs for ''The Little Mermaid'' (1989), ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1991), ''A ...

, who wrote the songs with longtime collaborator

Glenn Slater Glenn Slater (born January 28, 1968) is an American lyricist for musical theatre. He has collaborated with Alan Menken, Christopher Lennertz, Andrew Lloyd Webber, among other composers. He was nominated for three Tony Awards for Best Original ...

. Produced by

Skydance Animation Skydance Animation, LLC is an American animation studio that is a division of Skydance Media, founded on March 16, 2017. The studio is located in Los Angeles with offices in Connecticut and Madrid, Spain; the Madrid branch was originally Ilion A ...

, the film features the voices of

Rachel Zegler Rachel Anne Zegler (; born May 3, 2001) is an American actress and singer. She made her film debut playing Maria Vasquez in the 2021 musical drama ''West Side Story'', for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Pictu ...

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

Javier Bardem Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (; born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and foreign films, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the psychopath, ...

John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. Lithgow studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his work on the stage and screen. He has been the recipient of numerous ...

Jenifer Lewis Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in films ''Beaches'' (1988) and ''Sister Act'' (1992). Le ...

, and

Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, ...

. Set in the world of magic, the story follows Princess Ellian (Zegler), a young girl who must the break the spell that split her kingdom in two. The film is set to be on

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

with a planned release in 2023. The project, entitled ''Split'', was announced in July 2017, shortly after Skydance Animation was formed in March 2017, with

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

scheduling distribution for 2019. The film subsequently underwent changes, such as release dates, with Jenson later announced as the director, and the film's title changed to ''The Unbreakable Spell'', before eventually to its current title. Much of the main voice cast signed in June 2022, following Zegler's casting in April 2022. Production was done remotely during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Premise

The story is set in a world of magic where a young girl must break the spell that has split her kingdom in two.

Voice cast

as Princess Ellian *

as Queen Ellsmere *

as King Solon *

as Minister Bolinar *

as Minister Nazara Prone *

as The Oracle of the Sun *

André De Shields André Robin De Shields (born January 12, 1946) is an American actor, singer, dancer, director, and choreographer. De Shields originated the role of Hermes on Broadway in the musical ''Hadestown'', winning the 2019 Tony Award for Best Actor i ...

as The Oracle of the Moon *

Jordan Fisher Jordan William Fisher (born April 24, 1994) is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He began his career with recurring roles on several television series, including ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' in 2012 and ''Liv and Maddie'' fr ...

as Callan

Production

Development

On March 16, 2017,

Skydance Media Skydance Media, LLC (formerly known as Skydance Productions) is an American production company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison in 2006, the company entered a five-year partnership to co-produce and co-finance films with ...

formed a multi-year partnership with

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

-based animation studio

Ilion Animation Studios Skydance Animation Madrid (formerly known as Ilion Animation Studios) is a Spanish animation studio based in Madrid, Spain. It is a subsidiary of Skydance Media via Skydance Animation to create computer-animated films for theatrical release. Af ...

, forming an animation division called

. In July, it announced ''Split'', in which Skydance Media CEO

David Ellison David Ellison (born January 9, 1983) is an American film producer and actor best known as the founder and CEO of Skydance Media. Early life and education David Ellison was born in Santa Clara County, California. He is the son of billionaire Ora ...

revealed that

was writing the film. It would be distributed by

as part of their deal with Skydance Media and was given a release date for sometime in 2019. Following

John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, ...

's hiring as CCO of Skydance Animation, then-chief of

Paramount Animation Paramount Animation is an American animation studio, serving as the animation division and label of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The division was founded on July 6, 2011, following the box office success of Paramount's own ...

Mirielle Soria announced that Paramount Animation would end its informal work with Skydance. On April 2, 2020, composer

revealed that he was working alongside

on a project for the studio, which was later announced to be ''Split'', which by then was renamed to ''The Unbreakable Spell'' before it became ''Spellbound''. The film will be directed by

, from a screenplay by Lauren Hyne, Elizabeth Martin and Woolverton, with songs by Menken and longtime collaborator

. In July 2020, it was announced that ''Spellbound'' was still going to be released by Paramount Pictures without the Paramount Animation brand until

acquired the distribution rights to it in December 2020 as part of a larger pact with Skydance Animation. Apple Original Films would replace Paramount as a production company on the film, with

Apple Studios Apple Studios is an American film and television production company and a distributor that is a subsidiary of Apple Inc. It specializes in developing and producing television series and films for Apple's digital video streaming service Apple TV+ ...

distributing.

Casting

In April 2022,

was cast as the lead character. In June,

, and

were added to the cast.

Animation

Animation has been provided by

Skydance Animation Madrid Skydance Animation Madrid (formerly known as Ilion Animation Studios) is a Spanish animation studio based in Madrid, Spain. It is a subsidiary of Skydance Media via Skydance Animation to create computer-animated films for theatrical release. Af ...

with portions of

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

done remotely during the

Release

On March 16, 2017, it was reported that the original release was intended to be in 2019. On December 16, 2020, Apple TV+ entered talks to take over the distribution rights to the films ''

Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

'' and ''Spellbound'', which it did.

Marketing

On March 22, 2022, it has been reported that Skydance Animation has set a multi-year deal with

Spin Master Entertainment Spin Master is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational toy and entertainment company that markets consumer products for children. Its brands include ''Bakugan'', Gund, Etch A Sketch, Meccano/ Erector, Air Hogs, ''PAW Patrol'', Aqu ...

to make toys based on the film.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spellbound Upcoming films Upcoming English-language films American adventure comedy films American fantasy comedy films American musical fantasy films American children's animated comedy films American children's animated fantasy films American children's animated musical films American computer-animated films Animated films about magic Apple TV+ original films English-language Spanish films Films directed by Vicky Jenson Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Films not released in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films produced by John Lasseter Films scored by Alan Menken Films with screenplays by Linda Woolverton Skydance Media films Skydance Animation films Spanish fantasy comedy films Spanish computer-animated films Spanish fantasy films Spanish musical films