Dec 17, 2015

Reel FX reveals first artwork, new details for Headless director "Wish Police" (exclusive)

Reel FX, the studio behind Jorge Gutierrez's The Book of Life, has revealed the first piece of artwork for one of its most intriguing upcoming projects, Wish Police, which will be directed by the Spanish trio of Adrian Garcia, Alfredo Torres, and Victor Maldonado, who are collectively known as Headless. The studio is targeting a late 2017/early 2018 release.

Based on a novella of the same name by Daniel Nayer, Wish Police takes place in a world where children's bad wishes come to life as mayhem-making villains, and a secret organization called The Wish Police must work full-time to apprehend the evildoers.

The Wish Police are led by Saul, an ex-genie determined to atone for centuries of granting his masters' evil wishes, and Kong, a wise-cracking monkey and royal pain in the leg. In the film, Saul and Kong must break their personal rules and team up with a 12-year-old boy named Randy who has made a particularly bad wish and unleashed the most powerful wish villain ever seen.

The young Headless trio created the well received Spanish animated feature Nocturna (2007) while still in their twenties. In recent years, they've received widespread notice throughout industry circles for their striking teasers and concept trailers for planned projects like I'm A Monster and My Family and the Wolf. Two of Headless's team, Alfredo Torres and Victor Maldonado, have moved to Dallas, Texas, to direct Wish Police in-house at Reel FX.

“We couldn't be happier to unveil a glimpse of the unique visual style of Wish Police,” said director Victor Maldonado of the film's first piece of concept art, which can be seen below. “We think our color palette and character designs - which you see only a hint of here - feel fresh and unexpected. We want to create a film whose visuals are as moving as its story.” Click on the image to enlarge it:

Reel FX also announced today some of the other key names who will be involved in the production. Production executive Kirk Bodyfelt (Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs 2) has been tapped as the film's producer. He joins the company from Paramount Animation, and prior to that, he spent a decade as a producer at Sony Pictures Animation.

Patrick Hanenberger (production designer, Rise of the Guardians) and Margaret Wuller (visual development, How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods) will lead the visual development of the film through their art studio The Neuland, which will work in tandem with Headless.

“From the beginning, Reel FX has been passionate about this project - execs and crew alike immediately connected with the story and style,” said Reel FX chairman & CEO Steve O'Brien in a written statement. “We are thrilled to have brought together talent like Headless, Patrick, Margaret and Kirk to bring the film to life and join our team. It's our goal to be a home for filmmakers with unique voices, and Wish Police is no exception.”

Among other projects, Reel FX is also developing Jorge Gutierrez's next film, which is a kung fu space western.