Annecy: Arcane's Fortiche Reveal First Original Feature Film 'Penelope of Sparta'.

Fresh from the news that Arcane would be ending with its upcoming second season, Fortiche, the animation studio behind the series have some news of their own. Namely that they are going to be moving into original productions and that they are working on a feature film. The announcement was made during the Annecy International Animation Festival during the Studio Focus session.

Penelope Of Sparta is a sci-fi coming-of-age story that will tell the untold origin story of the heroine from Homer's The Odyssey. The feature will be aimed at adult and young adult audiences (13+).

In a world inspired by ancient Greece, 17-year-old Penelope attends an elite high school with the other famous heirs of the Athenian Empire — Achilles, Helen, Circe, Agamemnon and, of course, Odysseus. These teen royals are competitive at everything they do, including how they have fun, before they return to rule their kingdoms.

But Penelope isn’t like the rest of them; she’s a dutiful daughter on a secret mission given to her by her father, the King of Sparta — a mission to free her people from Athens’ imperialist grasp. For Penelope, high school isn’t a party, it’s war. What starts as a coming-of-age high school dramedy, shifts to an epic adventure as these teens from opposite worlds must learn to trust each other in order to save their friends from an insidious threat.

The film is set to be produced and directed at Fortiche, and Arcane screenwriter Amanda Overton is on board. It will be made in the studio's signature style, which combines 2d with a painted visual made in 3D. Just imagine getting to see those visuals on the big screen! 

Jérôme Combe, co-founder and president of Fortiche commented "We are equal parts excited and nervous to be sharing a very first look at Penelope of Sparta during a festival that is right at the heart of the global animation community. It has long been our ambition to work on a feature film that breaks down the wall between animation and live action, and we strongly believe that Penelope of Sparta has the ingredients to do just that. We really hope the audience at Annecy and potential partners feel as enthusiastic about it as we are."

The film is in the early stages of development, and Fortiche has partnered with Parrot Analytics to ensure that there is a strong basis for production. They discovered there has been a strong global growth in demand for both greek mythology and science-fiction genres.

“The Odyssey can be considered one of the oldest intellectual properties in entertainment history," said Combe " but the story of young Penelope has never been told and these insights offer very encouraging ground to build our project upon.”

No release date or window has been revealed yet.

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