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Chris Sanders is directing his first live-action movie.

Fox also said The Call of the Wild from director Chris Sanders will open wide on December 25, 2019. Erwin Stoff produces from Michael Green’s script. Call of the Wild is a hybrid film based on Jack London’s novel. Technoprops, a VR production company acquired by Fox and which worked on The Jungle Book, is part of the production.

Source: https://deadline.com/2017/10/channing-t ... 202187558/

Harrison Ford is in negotiations to star in “Call of the Wild,” Variety has learned. If a deal is reached, the “Star Wars” actor will play John Thornton, a prospector braving the Yukon on the hunt for gold. The big-budget film is being adapted by 20th Century Fox from the classic 1903 Jack London novel about the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s.

Chris Sanders (“The Croods”) is directing the film, which will have a script by Michael Green (“Logan”). Erwin Stoff is producing with Diana Pokorny serving as executive producer and Ryan Stafford working as co-producer. Steve Asbell will oversee the production for Fox. Production starts in early September. The film will rely heavily on the work of Technoprops, a special effects studio that was purchased by Fox in 2017 and whose founder, Glenn Derry, had previously worked on “Avatar.”

Source: https://variety.com/2018/film/news/harr ... 202872965/

Dan Stevens is teaming up with Harrison Ford in 20th Century Fox’s “Call of the Wild.” It’s unclear what role he will play in the adventure film, but it is said to be a significant one. Ford is playing John Thornton, a prospector searching for gold in the unforgiving Yukon.

The film will be shot in California, both on location and on sound stages where it will use cutting edge digital technology that will help the filmmakers create the dog-sled racing sequences. Technoprops, a special effects studio that was purchased by Fox in 2017 and rechristened Fox VFX Lab, will work on bringing the dogs life. Its founder, Glenn Derry, is no stranger to creature creation having previously worked on “Avatar” and “Jungle Book.”

Source: https://variety.com/2018/film/news/dan- ... 202883214/

Colin Woodell is joining Harrison Ford and Dan Stevens in 20th Century Fox’s “Call of the Wild.” Ford is playing John Thornton, a prospector searching for gold in the unforgiving Yukon.

Source: https://variety.com/2018/film/news/call ... 202922653/

“The Intouchables” star Omar Sy is set to join Harrison Ford and Dan Stevens in “Call of the Wild,” sources tell Variety.

Source: https://variety.com/2018/film/news/call ... 202940465/

Karen Gillan has joined Harrison Ford and Dan Stevens in Call of the Wild, the 20th Century Fox adaptation of Jack London’s famous 1903 adventure novel set during the Klondike Gold Rush. Gillan will play the role of Mercedes in the pic, which was adapted by Logan scribe Michael Green.

Source: https://deadline.com/2018/09/karen-gill ... 202472020/

Cara Gee, who is best known for her role in the Syfy series The Expanse, is joining Fox's adaptation of The Call of the Wild.

Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... ld-1159056

Call me selfish but I cannot help but get grumpy every time I find that a great animation director is dabbling in live-action instead of making his/her next mind-bogglingly awesome animated film. I wouldn’t be so grouchy if great live-action directors would regularly contribute their own services to the animation realm, but that is a rarity. Was Rango the last mainstream animated film to be helmed by a live-action direcotr?

Sing was directed by a live-action director, Garth Jennings. Wes Anderson released his second stop-motion animated film this year. The upcoming animated Grinch movie is being directed by Scott Mosier, who has a live-action background. Jason Reitman was also attached to direct an animated film at DreamWorks, although there has been no news and updates for a few years. Guillermo del Toro wanted to direct a stop-motion adaptation of "Pinocchio" and even wrote a script with the creator of "Over the Garden Wall." Sadly, he revealed it's not happening anytime soon. But he's got his Trollhunters show, so he still dabbles in animation.

So, there have been a few who have made the jump. But I agree that it would be neat to see more give it a go.

Jules wrote:Call me selfish but I cannot help but get grumpy every time I find that a great animation director is dabbling in live-action instead of making his/her next mind-bogglingly awesome animated film.

What people in the animation community refuse to acknowledge is how creatively restrictive it can be to only direct animated movies in Hollywood. Literally all animated movies here have to be family-friendly and belong to the comedy-adventure genre. Do you honestly believe any big animation studio would touch a serious period piece about the Klondike Gold Rush that doesn't feature any gags or funny sidecicks? Even if such a movie was able to be made by some miracle as an indie, it would be really difficult securing a distributor. The best case scenario would be a very limited theatrical release. The industry and culture surrounding animation is what's forcing animation directors to venture into live-action in order to be able to tell the stories they want that don't fit into the kiddie sandbox.

I've never really thought of it that way, Sotiris. Being in animation, especially in America, must be pretty restricting in terms of subject matter.

I think another reason is because animation directors aren't merely inspired by animation. They watch and are influenced by live-action films, so I can understand that desire of wanting to work in the same medium as Spielberg and Scorsese.

The poster and trailer have been released. It looks like a paint-by-the-numbers, family-friendly dog movie. A little on the dull side. The CG for the dog looks off. His movements and expressions are too cartoony at times which ruins the illusion. Lady and the Tramp looked better in that department. It's clear that a real dog wasn't used in the film, or at least not extensively. The landscapes are breathtaking though.


Source: https://www.facebook.com/CallOfTheWildM ... 115515707/

This looks great!! I think that Buck's adorable!!!

It's too obvious that they didn't use a real dog and it looks fake. I agree with Sotiris.

International poster.


Source: https://www.facebook.com/CallOfTheWildM ... 195233399/

Will the dogs speak in this movie ?

I saw the trailer for this in front of Cats. First I noticed that the dog looked entirely CGI which seems unusual for a dog movie— I understand using a CGI model for stunts or complicated shots but this seemed excessive.

Secondly, I haven’t read the book since I was a 7th grader, but isn’t the book written from the dog’s perspective? Wiki also doesn’t list a voice for Buck (which again is odd because the dog is clearly mostly an animated figure). But again it’s strange because doesn’t the dog become separated from humans for a majority of the narrative? Usually children’s movies like this beg for a justification to give their dog protagonist a reason to speak— here, at least it would be in keeping with the source material.

I don’t think anything about it looks bad, it just looks different from what I would have expected. If I hadn’t remembered Harrison Ford was starring in a “Call of the Wild” movie, I don’t think I would have recognized it before the title came up.

UmbrellaFish wrote:I saw the trailer for this in front of Cats. First I noticed that the dog looked entirely CGI which seems unusual for a dog movie— I understand using a CGI model for stunts or complicated shots but this seemed excessive.

Secondly, I haven’t read the book since I was a 7th grader, but isn’t the book written from the dog’s perspective? Wiki also doesn’t list a voice for Buck (which again is odd because the dog is clearly mostly an animated figure). But again it’s strange because doesn’t the dog become separated from humans for a majority of the narrative? Usually children’s movies like this beg for a justification to give their dog protagonist a reason to speak— here, at least it would be in keeping with the source material.

I don’t think anything about it looks bad, it just looks different from what I would have expected. If I hadn’t remembered Harrison Ford was starring in a “Call of the Wild” movie, I don’t think I would have recognized it before the title came up.

If the dog doesn't talk then I will just stick to watch Tom Hopper’s Cats instead maybe a secend time : Thanks !

Will any of the dogs talk the book’s Six main characters seem to be all dogs

Will Spitz,Dave, Billie,Joe, or Sol-leks talk ? Or will they along with Buck all be silent ?

I thought making the animals talk and be more anthropomorphic would the Big reason not only to make Big budget movie adapation of book in this age but also to especially hire a director with a background in animation.


This makes no sense to me !!

The animals in "How to Train Your Dragon" and "The Croods" don't talk and even Stitch mostly just growls and speaks in either simple English or an alien language. Chris Sanders seems to prefer the animals in his movies communicate using their body language. My guess is he also made Buck into a CG creation to make him more expressive, which I understand. After all, he has experience in that area, especially with Toothless. Some of the best scenes in "How to Train Your Dragon", in my opinion, were the moments when Hiccup and Toothless communicated without dialogue and the animators were able to show so much of Toothless's personality and emotions through just his expressions and body language.

Last year, three movies were released where we heard the inner thoughts of dogs with a famous actor's voice (A Dog's Way Home, A Dog's Journey and The Art of Racing in the Rain). So I'm glad Call of the Wild isn't going that route.

I read the book last year for the first time and I think Sanders is the perfect choice to direct the film adaptation. He has clearly shown to have a love and affection for animals and he's also someone with a very particular visual eye. Not just through his directing, either. He also storyboarded the "Mufasa's Ghost" scene and the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" musical number in The Lion King. He is also great at showing the bond between humans and their pets, as again proven by his directorial efforts. Through his over thirty years in the animation industry, Chris Sanders has brought us so much joy, enchantment and emotion and all of the films he has directed have been of high quality, so I admit to being a little confused at the skepticism some have for this movie. At this point, I feel he's someone who has earned the benefit of the doubt.

estefan wrote:The animals in "How to Train Your Dragon" and "The Croods" don't talk and even Stitch mostly just growls and speaks in either simple English or an alien language. Chris Sanders seems to prefer the animals in his movies communicate using their body language. My guess is he also made Buck into a CG creation to make him more expressive, which I understand. After all, he has experience in that area, especially with Toothless. Some of the best scenes in "How to Train Your Dragon", in my opinion, were the moments when Hiccup and Toothless communicated without dialogue and the animators were able to show so much of Toothless's personality and emotions through just his expressions and body language.

Last year, three movies were released where we heard the inner thoughts of dogs with a famous actor's voice (A Dog's Way Home, A Dog's Journey and The Art of Racing in the Rain). So I'm glad Call of the Wild isn't going that route.

I read the book last year for the first time and I think Sanders is the perfect choice to direct the film adaptation. He has clearly shown to have a love and affection for animals and he's also someone with a very particular visual eye. Not just through his directing, either. He also storyboarded the "Mufasa's Ghost" scene and the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" musical number in The Lion King. He is also great at showing the bond between humans and their pets, as again proven by his directorial efforts. Through his over thirty years in the animation industry, Chris Sanders has brought us so much joy, enchantment and emotion and all of the films he has directed have been of high quality, so I admit to being a little confused at the skepticism some have for this movie. At this point, I feel he's someone who has earned the benefit of the doubt.

I don’t care what you are Chris Samders wants. I want every animal to speak in every movie Family. I disliked the How To Train Your Dragon movies mostly beacuse the dragons didn’t speak. I have simliar issus with Maxiums and Pascal in Tangled and would be sad of this Which all CGI still chose not to have speak. I would be a disponent. I don’t like mute Animated chararhers .

characters! I would prefer all animals in all animated movies or family movies spoke. I dislike nonverbal communication. Secener is boring without dialogue.

So I hope the hundreds are talking and hating the dragons in The How To Train Your Dragon movies didn’t speak

Am also One of few people who didn’t care for Wall-E beacuse of all the silent sences.

But That’s just my opinion. You are free to have your’s

Harrison Ford’s ‘Call of the Wild’ to Lose $50 Million at Box Office
https://variety.com/2020/film/box-offic ... 203520284/

I watched The Call of the Wild yesterday and while I enjoyed it, I still found it a bit clunky, too sappy at parts, and not as brutal as the book was. It has some truly gorgeous scenery. The motion-capture dogs were needlessly distracting though. Unless it was an exercise in special effects, I just don't understand why real animals couldn't have been used, along with CGI for more dynamic scenes. It just kept taking away from the experience. And it's not like real animals, dogs especially, aren't expressive enough. I think there was some studio meddling because this didn't feel much like a Chris Sanders movie.

I feel like CG animals will start being the future in movies. The bigger budget ones, at least. Considering all of the dangerous things that happened to Buck and the other dogs and wolves (getting beaten, participating in fights, almost dying in the wild), it would have been too high of a risk to use real dogs. Studios no longer want to get in trouble for mistreating animals on film sets. I also felt Chris Sanders brought a lot of his animation sensibilities to the project, especially for the scenes with just Buck and the other animals. I think he wanted to have a lot more control over how Buck moved and expressed himself. He already has experience with directing computer animated animals, after all.

I do disagree that it didn't feel like a Chris Sanders film. A number of the themes prevalent in his previous directorial efforts continued in "The Call of the Wild", including exploring the bond between humans and animals, a character who ends up in a new unexpected world and eventually adapts to their surroundings, the outcast who tries to become part of a group and the impact the loss of loved ones can have on a person. It also just hit me how well Sanders uses the settings of his films. Hawaii in "Lilo & Stitch", the island of Berk in "How to Train Your Dragon", the prehistoric world in "The Croods" and the Yukon in "The Call of the Wild" end up having such a unique look to them that allows these locations to be memorable even long after leaving the theatre.

I really want to see this but haven't yet. But I'd so much rather have a CG dog be used than actual dogs having the potential to be hurt or abused.