After years in development, the long-awaited Nimona is heading to Netflix.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the online streamer has picked up the feature-length animation, based on the New York Times bestselling graphic novel by Noelle Stevenson.
“A Knight is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona, a shape-shifting teen who might also be a monster he’s sworn to kill,” reads the official synopsis.
“Set in a techno-medieval world unlike anything animation has tackled before, this is a story about the labels we assign to people and the shapeshifter who refuses to be defined by anyone.”
The upcoming animated feature will appear on Netflix sometime in 2023.
Chloe Grace Moretz will voice Nimona with Riz Ahmed as Ballister Boldheart alongside Eugene Lee Yang as Ambrosius Goldenloin. Directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane will helm the film which began production earlier this year.
Netflix is partnering with Annapurna for the Nimona film after it was left in the lurch following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Originally in production by Blue Sky Studios, the company was closed following the merger – leaving Nimona’s fate hanging in the balance.
Nimona was eventually shuttered despite a planned January 2022 release with Disney announcing that production had been halted and the film would no longer be released.
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According to former Blue Sky employees, Disney was concerned with Nimona’s depiction of a same-sex kiss – much the same as its previous issues with Pixar’s Lightyear. The film’s original director Patrick Osborne has since been replaced as Nimona finds a new home.
Elsewhere, Stevenson’s Lumberjanes is being turned into an animated series for HBO Max. She also recently helmed Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
Nimona was first published in 2015 as a graphic novel after it first debuted online as a webcomic.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.