Acclaimed animator and director Genndy Tartakovsky spent the last 17 years ensuring that his passion project, Fixed, would eventually become a reality. Having finally realized that dream with Netflix\u2019s launch of the film this summer, Tartakovsky is now shifting his attention to another long-gestating project, The Black Night.<\/p>\n
Over the weekend, the filmmaker posted an animation test for the unproduced project, which had fans of his work buzzing across every imaginable social media platform.<\/p>\n
The Black Knight was first announced in 2018<\/a>, when Sony revealed that Tartakovsky would direct two original features following the success of the Hotel Transylvania trilogy. One was the aforementioned Fixed, and the other was The Black Knight. At the time, Sony Pictures Animation president Kristine Belson called Tartakovsky \u201cone of the most singular voices in animation today,\u201d promising bold new directions beyond family-friendly fare. However, like several of Tartakovsky\u2019s earlier Sony projects \u2014 including his shelved Popeye adaptation, which\u00a0looked like a lot of fun in a later leaked<\/a> animatic \u2014 the film never moved forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, this might get me in trouble \u2026 But gotta try a new strategy,\u201d Tartakovsky wrote in his Instagram post this weekend, linked below.<\/p>\n By releasing the test now, the filmmaker hopes to leverage fan demand into a studio second look, aiming to prove there\u2019s an eager audience ready and willing to pay for ambitious, mature animated adventures. Early reactions online suggest he may be right; fans are clamoring for a greenlight.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Well, this might get me in trouble \u2026 But gotta try a new strategy.<\/p>\n About six years ago we started development on a more adult animated action movie,\u00a0The Black Knight. We developed it for a few years, the studio liked what we were doing but they were unsure if there is an audience that would go see it theatrically. We made a down and dirty test, and still no go. So to try something different I thought I would share the test to see if it can get a groundswell of excitement that would change the studio\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n I won\u2019t share the details of the story except for one element, our Knight Armor is 20 feet high and controlled by a knight inside using ropes, pulleys and levers. The setting is around the 14th century.<\/p>\n Anyways, I\u2019ve already said too much.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \n<\/blockquote>\n
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