How ‘Nimona’ Overcame Staggering Setbacks and Wound Up in the Oscar Race
07.03.2024 - 01:35
/ variety.com
Katcy Stephan “Nimona,” Netflix and Annapurna Animation’s Oscar-nominated film, is a compelling tale of passion, resilience and searching for community — both on and off the screen. When brave knight Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) is falsely accused of assassinating the queen, he teams up with the chaotic, shapeshifting teenager Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) in the hopes of clearing his name and bringing peace to the kingdom. Nimona and Ballister’s quest closely echoes the long journey of the film’s producers, who overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles — not only to bring the film to screens, but all the way to the Academy Awards.
Nobody relates more than producers Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary, who have been attached to the project for nearly a decade. Originally conceived at Blue Sky Studios in 2016, the animated production first hit a speed bump in 2018 with Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox. “We were working on it at Blue Sky and it was incredible.
It was going really well. The entire studio was rallying behind this. Then Fox was acquired by Disney,” Ryan recalls.
“Movies can get pushed and pulled by the new people coming in. My role was about protecting it and just keeping it about the themes. We were trying to make this film feel personal and not get lost in that shuffle of the transition.” The “Nimona” team faced pushback from Disney on the film’s queer representation, including a kiss between Boldheart and boyfriend Ambrosius Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang).
And that wasn’t their only roadblock. “We were in the middle of COVID. Disney was hemorrhaging money.
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