Ico (film)

Ico is an upcoming American-Japanese 3D computer-animated fantasy drama adventure film based on the 2001 PlayStation 2 video game of the same name, co-produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation and Gingo Animation, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film is directed by Guillermo del Toro, from a screenplay by Brad Copeland. It stars the voices of Noah Schnapp, Millie Bobby Brown and Emma Thompson.

Plans for an animated Ico film, to be developed at Gingo Animation, were first revealed in 2014, and officially announced in October 2017, with Schnapp, Brown and Thompson cast two months later. Although Gingo is owned by NBCUniversal whose subsidiary Universal Pictures distributes most of the Gingo's films, Ico will be the first Gingo film to be distributed by another film studio other than Universal, as Sony owned the rights for the Team Ico games including Ico through Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Ico is scheduled for release on July 17, 2019 in the United States.

Plot
When a boy named Ico grows long curved horns overnight, his fate has been sealed—he is to be sacrificed in the Castle in the Mist. But in the castle, Ico meets a young girl named Yorda imprisoned in its halls. Alone they will die, but together Ico and Yorda might just be able to defy their destinies and escape the magic of the castle.

Cast

 * Noah Schnapp as Ico, a horned boy.
 * Millie Bobby Brown as Yorda, a captive girl who speaks a different language.
 * Emma Thompson as the Queen, ruler of the castle and the mother of Yorda.

Development
A film adaption of Ico originally came about based on the success of the proposed film adaptation of Shadow of the Colossus being created by Misher Films in conjunction with Sony Pictures and Fumito Ueda. Following the November 2014 hacking of Sony's computers, emails between Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal and president Doug Belgrad were released, stating that Sony was in talks with Universal Studios and its flagship animation studio Gingo Animation about an animated film based on Ico. The emails also mentioned a possibility where Sony would handle the film's United States distribution while Universal would handle the film's international distribution.

Three years later, in October 2017, it was officially announced that Sony would be teaming up with Gingo to make an animated Ico film. Amy Pascal, Avi Arad, Kristine Belson, Mike Moon, Geo G., Michael Wildshill, and Ico creator Fumito Ueda will all co-produce the film, with Brad Copeland writing the film's script. Two months later, Sony slated the film for a July 17, 2019 release, with Guillermo del Toro, called the original Ico game a “masterpiece,” announced as director.

Casting
Stranger Things co-stars Noah Schnapp and Millie Bobby Brown were cast as protagonists Ico and Yorda in December 2017, along with Emma Thompson as the Queen.

Animation
As with The Star, Sony Pictures Animation will have the animation produced by another studio other than Sony Pictures Imageworks, which handles digital production for most of SPA's films. For this film, Ico will be animated in-house at Gingo Animation's main headquarters in North Hollywood, California.

Music
The film's score will be composed by Michael Giacchino. It marks his first feature-length project for both Gingo Animation and Sony Pictures Animation.

Release
Ico is currently scheduled to be released in the United States on July 17, 2019, by Sony Pictures.

Future
On the possibility of a potential film universe with Team Ico games, Michael Wildshill, one of the producers of the film, stated that there are some ideas for animated adaptations of Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian, in addition to Ico.