MUMBAI: Rainshine Entertainment and Malaysia-based Animasia Studio have teamed up to co-produce a trilogy of animated feature films based on the Young Captain Nemo books, an Amazon.com chart-topping fiction trilogy. The partnership has chartered the talent of Jeffrey Reddick, acclaimed architect of the Final Destination movie franchise, for screenwriting and executive producing duties.

Earlier in May 2020, Rainshine’s kids and family entertainment arm Kinsane Entertainment Inc had acquired the book adaptation rights to the Young Captain Nemo trilogy written by best-selling author Jason Henderson and published by Feiwel & Friends (an imprint of Macmillan). The story follows 12-year-old Gabriel Nemo, descendent of Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, as the young adventurer and his friends fight nature, villains, and forces of evil in his submarine Nemotech.

This trilogy is a collaborative effort that brings together a roster of renowned names from across the world of literature, entertainment, and animation. Popular for his spine-tingling horror flicks, Jeffrey Reddick is also currently performing writing duties for two new Netflix animated series, including Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, a spin-off of the best-selling Usagi Yojimbo comic book series. Working closely with Reddick as the creative producer will be Saahil Bhargava (co-founder of Kinsane and founder of Rainshine’s teen and adult animation division Raijin Studios), Kinsane co-founder and CEO Kurt Inderbitzin, along with other members of the Kinsane content and production team. Bringing all of this to life will be Ah Loong from Animasia Studio, based in Kuala Lumpur with offices in Los Angeles. The production house has created award-winning animation work for leading names, including Disney Channel, Netflix, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon among others.

Rainshine Entertainment chairman and CEO Neeraj Bhargava said, “When Kinsane acquired the adaptation rights to the Young Captain Nemo books, we saw it as a contemporary action adventure with an iconic character, with plots that have universal appeal. It's also a great opportunity to share with the world, particularly our younger audiences, an inspirational tale woven into a world of mystery, fantasy and sci-fi."

Animasia Studio MD Edmund Chan said, “We are delighted and excited to co-produce the Young Captain Nemo animation films in partnership with Rainshine Entertainment. The concept and the fantasy world of story lend themselves very well to animation as a medium of storytelling. And as a company committed to providing high-quality animation content to our audiences, we are certain that a character like Young Nemo will be a great opportunity to showcase our animation skills to a much wider and global audience.”

Screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick added, “A lot of us have grown up reading Jules Verne’s classic and secretly wishing to become Captain Nemo. So, when Rainshine approached me to adapt Jason Henderson’s Young Captain Nemo books for a trilogy of animated feature films, I could visualise a colourful, adventurous, and thrill-a-minute animation that kids and families would enjoy. I look forward to working with the Rainshine and Animasia teams to take Young Captain Nemo to the screen.”