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Open Road Squirrels Away 3D Animated Pic ‘The Nut Job’ For January 17 Release

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday April 11, 2013 @ 8:02am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Open Road Films, The Nut Job
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: Open Road Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to The Nut Job, a 3D animated family film. The distributor has set a January 17, 2014 opening date. The film features the voices of Liam Neeson, Katherine Heigl, Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Stephen Lang, Sarah Gadon and Jeff Dunham. It’s a comedy focusing on a squirrel and his rat friend as they plan a nut store heist.

The film is directed by Peter Lepeniotis and scripted by Lorne Cameron and Lepeniotis, and based on the latter’s 2005 short film Surly Squirrel. It’s produced by Graham Moloy and WK Jung and the exec producers are Mike Karz and Bill Bindley of Gulfstream Pictures, Jay Ahn, Daniel Woo, Hong Kim and Tom Yoon, in a co-production between ToonBox Entertainment, Redrover Co, Ltd. and Gulfstream Pictures. The distribution deal was made between Open Road CEO Tom Ortenberg and Redrover president Hoe-jin Ha. Ortenberg called it “a smart, fresh and funny movie that family members of all ages will certainly enjoy.”

Here’s a look at Lepeniotis’ original short Surly Squirrel that got this whole thing started:

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Liam Neeson To Voice Villain In Animated Comedy ‘The Nut Job’

By JEN YAMATO | Friday March 1, 2013 @ 11:04am PSTTags: Liam Neeson, The Nut Job

Liam Neeson Nut JobLiam Neeson is already lending his voice to Warner Bros’ Lego: The Piece Of Resistance. Now the Oscar-nominated actor who brought Aslan to life in Disney and Fox’s Narnia pics is joining the voice cast of the indie animation The Nut Job, the first feature from Canadian-based ToonBox and Korea-based Redrover, in association with Warner Bros-based Gulfstream Pictures. Disney and Pixar veteran Peter Lepeniotis is directing the feature based on his own 1995 short Surly Squirrel from a script by Lorne Cameron (Brother Bear, Over The Hedge), about a mischievous squirrel who plots to rob a nut store with his rat friend Buddy.

Neeson will voice the villainous Raccoon in a cast that includes Katherine Heigl, Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Stephen Lang, Sarah Gadon, and comedian Jeff Dunham. Read More »

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