Sep 11, 2018

British/Chinese movie "Watch The Skies" sets up English voice cast

China's Dezerlin Media and the U.K.'s Zycon Media have set the English-speaking voice cast for the upcoming feature Watch the Skies.

The sci-fi adventure film follows a group of humans who are determined to rescue an alien boy, St'aar, whose starship has crashed on Earth. It is directed and written by Mark Byers, who will make his feature animation directorial debut with this film. He had previously directed low-budget American films like Criminal Act (1990) and Diggin' Up Business (1990), and written films like Gua Sha Treatment (2001).

Here's the cast: Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones) will voice tech billionaire Peter Fox, who is determined to get his hands on alien technology at all costs, and Asa Butterfield (Ender's Game, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children) voices St'aar, the intergalactic teenager on the run from Fox and his security force, headed by Major Laura Jude, played by Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace, Clash of the Titans).

Other voices include Sam Claflin (Hunger Games, Pirates of the Caribbean) and Laura Haddock (Guardians of the Galaxy, Transformers) as alien teens who help St'aar, and David Fynn (Game of Thrones, Sherlock) playing Thor, a self-styled Cyber Viking who cracks the alien tech to help St'aar get home.

“I am particularly excited to have a veritable who's who of sci-fi and fantasy favorites in our cast,” says writer-director Byers.

Watch the Skies is produced by Lin Zhang, CEO of Dezerlin Media, and Mohammed Khalid, CEO of Zycon Media. The film, set for release in 2019, will be the first in a 10-movie slate of animated films that Dezerlin and Zycon plan to produce. Other films currently in development as part of that slate include Codename: Furball, about a secret agent cat who saves England during World War II; and Hawkins and Silver, a steampunk retelling of the classic Treasure Island story set in a world shared by talking animals and humans.

“We are pleased to have found a creative kindred spirit in China's Dezerlin Media,” says producer Khalid. “Lin Zhang has a far-reaching global vision, and has created IP that is both highly commercial and also touchingly heartfelt. The combination of their creative brains and our production brawn will cut through all cultural barriers.”

“This partnership with Zycon represents a milestone for the Chinese entertainment industry,” said producer Zhang, “and marks the beginning of the globalization of content created in China and enjoyed by audiences everywhere.”