The expanding franchise of Rabbids is about to get bigger as Lionsgate have acquired the rights to develop a hybrid animation/live-action film.
Originally, Sony had developed the script for the film by Tom Sheppard, Zeb Wells and Matt Senreich. However, Mandenville Film, Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman are set to produce the film, alongside Ubisoft’s Jason Altman and Margaret Boykin. It’s also believed that the studio and Mandenville are in talks with Todd Strauss-Schulson to direct the movie.
Rabbids were originally introduced as enemies in the Rayman series. However, their popularity at the time made it clear to Ubisoft that they needed to focus on giving the rabbit-like creatures a spin-off in 2006.
Since then the series has grown largely, having sold 15 million games worldwide and creating almost 20 games overall. Rabbids also crossed over with Nintendo’s Mario for the Switch (Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle), and the game won a Game Award for Best Strategy Game back in 2017.
The rabbit-like fuzzy creature has appeared in various other forms of media, ranging from books to TV. It’s smart for Ubisoft to capitalize on the popularity of the franchise in another form of media, especially if they don’t plan on making another game anytime soon.
Furthermore, Ubisoft also has plans for their other franchises, like Watch Dogs and Far Cry. Ubisoft is currently developing animated shows for both of those, and a Netflix film based on Tom Clancy’s The Division with Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain is underway.
Also read: Microsoft’s New Xbox Revealed at The Game Awards 2019
As of right now, no dates have been released for any of the projects that Ubisoft are currently working on. However, it’s safe to say that we can expect any of these to release sometime next year.
Will you be tuning in with any of Ubisoft’s projects and are you excited for a Rabbids movie? Let us know down in the comments!
