David Tennant, Ariyon Bakare, Rob Brydon and Joe Sugg added to cast of The Amazing Maurice, a Sky Original

Sky today confirms additional cast for The Amazing Maurice, a Sky Original including David Tennant (Doctor Who), Ariyon Bakare (His Dark Materials), Rob Brydon (Roald & Beatrix: The Tale of the Curious Mouse), Julie Atherton (Avenue Q) and YouTuber Joe Sugg. They join the stellar line-up of Hugh Laurie, Emilia Clarke, David Thewlis, Himesh Patel, Gemma Arterton and Hugh Bonneville for the highly anticipated adaptation of Sir Terry Pratchett’s award-winning children’s novel.

In The Amazing Maurice, a Sky Original, Maurice is a streetwise ginger cat who comes up with a money-making scam by befriending a group of self-taught talking rats. When Maurice and the rodents reach the stricken town of Bad Blintz, they meet a bookworm called Malicia and their little con soon goes down the drain.

The film is co-produced by Sky, Ulysses Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media in partnership with Global Screen, 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, from a screenplay by Terry Rossio.

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 28^th 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.

The Amazing Maurice, a Sky Original will be released on Sky Cinema in 2022. The film will also be available on streaming service NOW via the Sky Cinema Membership.

Sky Cinema is the home of Sky Original films, with brand new films launching every month alongside an unrivalled range of the latest cinema releases and on demand library.

For further information please contact:

Sky

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 23.4 million customers to the best entertainment, sports, news and arts including our own award-winning original content.

Our technology, including the market leading Sky Q, connects people to everything they love – with entertainment from Sky TV, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer, and apps like Spotify, YouTube, BBC Sounds, Highbrow, Peloton, Fiit, and more, in one place, easy. Our streaming service NOW brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service. Through our new B2B broadband provider, Sky Connect, we offer superfast broadband with business-grade 4G back-up to small businesses in the UK.

Building on the success of Sky Originals like Chernobyl, Gangs of London and Brassic, we are doubling our investment in original content by 2024 through Sky Studios. Sky News provides impartial and trustworthy journalism for free, Sky Arts is the UK’s only dedicated free-to-air arts channel making the arts accessible for everyone and Sky Sports, our leading sports broadcasting service, brings customers some of the biggest and best global sporting events from the Premier League to Formula 1 and everything in-between. Our new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which will open in 2022, 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.

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About NOW

NOW is the home of brilliant entertainment. We’re one of the UK’s leading streaming platforms with critically acclaimed shows, new and exclusive movies, unmissable sport and epic kids TV – all with no contract. Join in with an Entertainment, Cinema, Sports, Kids or hayu Membership to stream instantly across TV, mobile, desktop and over 60 other devices. Watch on the go and even offline with our app by downloading shows and movies.

Entertainment Members can enjoy critically acclaimed dramas, documentaries and comedies, Emmy award-winning shows, the best of HBO and exclusive Sky Originals. Cinema Members can discover over 1000 brilliant movies, from the latest blockbusters and classic favourites and a new premiere every day. Sports Members cheer on unmissable Premier League, international cricket, F1, golf and more – all live, across 11 Sky Sports channels.

Plus, members can enhance their experience with NOW Boost – that’s full 1080p HD, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and streaming on up to 3 devices at once, for an extra £3 a month.

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About ULYSSES FILMPRODUKTION

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 world wide sold 3D animated films “Ooops! Noah is gone...” (aka “Two by Two”, “All Creatures Big and Small”) and “Luis & The Aliens” which was also picked up by Warner UK. The feature films sold worldwide and were huge box office successes in many territories. The sequel “Ooops!2” (aka “Two by Two – Overboard”) was released in the UK and Germany in 2020, with releases to follow in the US, Australia/New Zealand, France and Russia. More Features and a TV Series with global exploitation potential are in the development pipeline.

www.ulyssesfilms.de

About CANTILEVER MEDIA

Cantilever Media is based in Ireland and the UK and produces animated feature films and television series as well as documentary features. It produced the feature documentary “The United Way” featuring Eric Cantona, a Sky Original which will launch on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW on May 24^th 2021, and also produced the award winning feature documentary “I am Duran”. The Amazing Maurice is the company’s first animation feature production and further animated and live action projects for film and television are currently in development.

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.

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.