Peter Rabbit adaptation coming in 2018

Sony’s Columbia Pictures today (26th September) announced it is creating a live-action, CG motion picture based on the works of Beatrix Potter.

The film, entitled Peter Rabbit, will star James Corden as the voice of Peter, and Rose Byrne in the female lead role of “Bea”. Columbia did not reveal any further details about the story line but said Daisy Ridley and Elizabeth Debicki will also add their voices to the film, which will be directed by Will Gluck and made at Animal Logic, the Australian-based animation studio. Zareh Nalbandian of Animal Logic and Will Gluck of Olive Bridge Entertainment will produce, and the screenplay will be by Rob Lieber.

Columbia signed development and production rights from Warne, a division of Penguin Random House (PRH).

Production of the film, which is scheduled for release worldwide in April 2018, will start in January 2017.

Tom Weldon, c.e.o. of Penguin Random House UK said: “We at Penguin Random House UK are delighted to be working with Columbia Pictures.  As custodians of Beatrix Potter’s brand and legacy, we are excited about the opportunity this production will bring to engage a whole new audience with the world of Beatrix Potter and one of her best-loved characters, the mischievous Peter Rabbit.”

Sony Pictures Entertainment, in association with Frederick Warne, will create a licensing and merchandising programme in connection with the new film.

The Peter Rabbit story was written and illustrated as The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Potter and published by Frederick Warne & Co in 1902. In 1983 Frederick Warne & Co was acquired by Penguin Books, now Penguin Random House (PRH), which owns the rights to all Beatrix Potter’s works. Sony Pictures Entertainment said it will, in association with Warne, create a licensing and merchandising programme in connection with the new film.