Sky announces new co-production: The Amazing Maurice, a Sky original coming in 2022 to Sky Cinema

Sky today announced a new co-production with Ulysses Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media, The Amazing Maurice, a Sky original. This animated family film is based on one of Sir Terry Pratchett’s wildly popular Discworld novels and will star Hugh Laurie (Avenue 5) as Maurice, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Malicia, David Thewlis (Wonder Woman) as Boss Man, Himesh Patel (Yesterday) as Keith, Gemma Arterton (The King’s Man) as Peaches and Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) as The Mayor. More cast announcements to follow.

Coming to Sky Cinema in 2022, The Amazing Maurice, a Sky original, follows Maurice, a streetwise ginger cat who has the perfect money-making scam. He finds a kid who plays a pipe, and he also befriends his very own horde of strangely educated, talking rats – so Maurice can no longer think of them as ‘lunch’. When Maurice and the rodents reach the stricken town of Bad Blintz, they meet a bookworm, Malicia. Their little con soon goes down the drain as something very bad is waiting for them in the cellars.

Sarah Wright, Director of Sky Cinema and Acquisitions at Sky UK & Ireland comments: “The Amazing Maurice is a fantastic story from a legendary author, and I couldn’t think of a better tale to bring to life as an animated film for all the family. I’m excited to work with Ulysses Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media to bring this exclusive new movie to Sky Cinema audiences in 2022.”

Emely Christians, Producer and CEO of Ulysses Filmproduktion comments: “When I read The Amazing Maurice, I knew we had to turn this amazing novel into a film. The art and animation departments are working hard to recreate Terry Pratchett’s unique vision and I can’t wait to see this on screen!”

Andrew Baker, Producer and CEO of Cantilever Media, said: “I’m huge fan of Sir Terry Pratchett so I would not be embarking on this project unless I felt we were bringing the film to life in a way that honours the book and will please its numerous fans around the world. We have a great cast and great teams at the studios in Sheffield and Hamburg working to make this film special.”

Robert Chandler, Producer at Cantilever Media said: “The trick with The Amazing Maurice is getting the balance right. Terry Pratchett is a brilliant author, who was not afraid to explore dark places and have fun getting there. That’s the tone of our film.”

Rob Wilkins, Producer and Managing Director of Narrativia, said: “Bringing Maurice’s story to life was such a joy for Terry and I’m delighted that the teams at Sky, Ulysses Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media are honouring his vision with such reverence and respect.”.

The Amazing Maurice, a Sky original is co-produced by Sky, Ulysses Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media, with animation studios Studio Rakete (Hamburg) and Red Star Animation (Sheffield). The film has the full support of the Terry Pratchett estate and is produced in association with Narrativia. Producers are Julia Stuart (Sky), Emely Christians (Ulysses), Andrew Baker and Robert Chandler (Cantilever Media) and Rob Wilkins (Narrativia). The Film is directed by Toby Genkel, co-director is Florian Westermann.

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is a children’s fantasy by Sir Terry Pratchett, published by Doubleday in 2001 and has sold nearly 90 million books worldwide. It was the 28th novel in the Discworld series, but the first written for children. The Amazing Maurice is a lively and entertaining adventure inspired by the German fairy tale about the Pied Piper of Hamelin and a parody of the folk tale genre. Pratchett won the annual Carnegie Medal for the book – children’s literature’s highest award. Despite many other awards, honorary degrees and the knighthood that followed, Sir Terry Pratchett always emphasised that this was the award of which he was most proud.

Telepool has acquired The Amazing Maurice for German speaking territories and Telepool’s sales arm Globalscreen handles worldwide rights.

For further information please contact: Mark Pitchford, mark.pitchford@sky.uk

Notes to Editors

About Sky

Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Across six countries, we connect our 24 million customers to the best entertainment, sports, news, arts and to our own award-winning original content.

Our technology, including the market leading Sky Q, connects people to everything they love - TV, music, games, online video, fitness and educational content, all in one place, easy. Our streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.

Building on the success of Sky Originals like Chernobyl, I Hate Suzie and Brassic, we are doubling our investment in original content by 2024 through Sky Studios. Sky News provides impartial and trustworthy journalism for free, while Sky Arts, the UK’s only dedicated free-to-air arts channel, makes the arts accessible for everyone. Our new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in the UK over the first five years alone.

We believe that we can be a force for good in the communities in which we operate. We’re committed to being Europe’s first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030. We take pride in our approach to diversity and inclusion: we’ve been recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity and we’ve put in place a new programme to invest £30million across our markets over the next three years to tackle racial injustice.

About Ulysses Filmproduktion

Voted animation “Producer of the Year” at Cartoon Movie 2016 and nominated as “Producer of the Year” 2017, Ulysses Filmproduktion, one of the most active European production companies of high-quality and commercially successful animation films, is based in Hamburg, Germany. The company developed and produced the worldwide sold 3D animated films “Luis & The Aliens” (released 2018), which was also picked up by Warner UK and “Ooops! Noah is gone...” (aka “Two by Two”, “All Creatures Big and Small”), which was a huge box office success in many territories such as UK, France, Poland and South America. Ulysses produced several other animated family movies for the international market. More features and a TV Series with global exploitation potential are in the development pipeline.

For further information, please visit http://www.ulyssesfilms.de

About Cantilever Media

Cantilever Media is a UK based production company specialising in feature documentaries and animated family films. Founded in 2018, “The Amazing Maurice” is the company’s first animated feature production and further animated and live action projects are currently in development.

For further information, please visit http://www.cantilever.media

About Narrativia

Narrativia is an independent production company, launched in 2012 by Sir Terry Pratchett. The company owns and controls the exclusive multimedia and merchandising rights to all of Sir Terry's works, including his Discworld characters and creations. The company is headed by Managing Director Rob Wilkins and celebrated writer Rhianna Pratchett. In 2019 Narrativia saw the release of Good Omens with Amazon Studios and BBC Studios, based on the internationally bestselling novel by Sir Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman.

About Sir Terry Pratchett

Sir Terry Pratchett was the acclaimed creator of the global best-selling Discworld series and during his lifetime became Britain’s best-selling adult author. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the Carnegie Medal for “The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents” and went on to receive multiple literary awards, ten honorary doctorates and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.