Canto -- IDW Publishing's fantasy comic book series created by writer David M. Booher and artist Drew Zucker -- is slated to receive an animated feature courtesy of Westbrook Studios, the production company co-founded by Jada Pinkett Smith and her husband Will Smith.
Per Deadline, Westbrook has optioned the rights to Canto and is adapting the comic as an animated film. Booher and Zucker will serve as executive producers, with Booher also penning the screenplay. Westbrook Co-President and Head of Motion Pictures Jon Mone will produce, with Ryan Shimazaki overseeing the project on the studio's behalf.
Written by Booher and illustrated by Zucker with colors by Vittorio Astone, Canto debuted at IDW with issue #1 in June 2019. The original series ran for six issues, which were later collected in graphic novel form as Canto: If I Only Had a Heart. The series was followed by a one-shot titled Canto and the Clockwork Fairies and a five-issue sequel series titled Canto II: The Hollow Men, which were collected together. A three-issue follow-up to The Hollow Men called Canto & The City of Giants is scheduled to launch next month, and will itself be followed by Canto III: Lionhearted.
Taking inspiration from The Wizard of Oz and Dante's Inferno, Canto follows the eponymous hero from the land of Arcana, who -- alongside his fellow tin-people -- has been enslaved and had his heart replaced with a clock. Canto falls in love with a tin girl, which is forbidden, and leaves Arcana on a journey to find his people's missing hearts after the slavers irreparably damage her clock. After getting help from some allies along the way, Canto arrives at the Emerald Tower to confront the Shrouded Man, the mastermind behind everything.
"David and Drew have created a world full of adventure, determination and hope," Mone said in a statement. "It reminds us of the importance of love and to fight for those we care about and we are so thrilled to work with them to share the magic of this inspiring little hero on the big screen."
"It's rare to find a partner like Westbrook who shares our values, both creatively and personally," added Booher. "Like us, Jon and Ryan see Canto as a story about hope, and I'm thrilled to work with them to bring it to the screen." Zucker chimed in, "We couldn't be more excited to have Westbrook as partners in sending Canto onto his next adventure."
The Canto animated film does not currently have a release window, nor is casting information available at this time.
Source: Deadline
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