With its release right around the corner, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies have released a new featurette for Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. It features Hank, voiced by Michael Cera, as he introduces himself as a samurai and is greeted with laughter by the village. Cera describes Hank as a dog in a world of dog-hating cats. Samuel L. Jackson, who will be doing the voice of Jimbo, Hank’s mentor in the film said, “The movie is pretty wacky and pretty wild, and also a lot of fun.”
Courtesy of IGN
It takes place in an anthropomorphic world of cats and dogs, where we follow Hank’s journey as he becomes a samurai while a new threat emerges that endangers the entire village.
With comedic animation featuring the talents of Cera, best known for Superbad, Scott Pilgrim v. The World, and Juno, along with Jackson, best known for Avengers, The Hateful Eight, and Captain Marvel it sounds like it’s going to be a film for the entire family.
According to the press release, the film will follow a hard-on-his-luck hound Hank who finds himself in a town full of cats that need a hero to defend them from a ruthless villain’s (Ricky Gervais) evil plot to wipe their village off the map.
With help from a reluctant teacher to train him, our underdog must assume the role of town samurai and team up with the villagers to save the day. The only problem… cats hate dogs.
Check out the new featurette below:
Originally brought in 2010 by Sony Pictures Animation under another name Blazing Samurai, the film remained in production for years. After being shopped between various film studios, Paramount Pictures finally obtained the rights to the movie earlier this year.
The film will be directed by Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) and animation extraordinaire, Mark Koetsier, who previously worked on Kung Fu Panda and Big Hero 6. Joining Minkoff and Koetsier will be Chris Bailey best known for Kim Possible. Additional announcements include writers Ed Stone, Nate Hopper, and Norman Steinberg, who all wrote previously for the film Blazing Saddles. Serving as executive producers are Adrian Politowski, Alex Schwartz, Ben White, Reginald Hudlin, Wang Zhongjun, Wang Zhonglei, and Mel Brooks. The film will be produced by Rob Minkoff, Adam Nagle, Peter Nagle, Guy Collins, Yair Landau, and Susan Purcel.
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank will finally make its debut on the big screen on July 15.
