Laika Leaps Into Live-Action: Oscar-Nominated Animation Studio To Adapt John Brownlow’s Debut Action Thriller Novel ‘Seventeen’

Don't miss a thing by getting the day's biggest stories sent direct to your inbox

In his 92 years, African-American businessman Horace Bowers Sr.—one of the two main subjects of the Oscar-nominated short documentary A Concerto Is a Conversation—has faced many obstacles in his path. He’s always found a way around them.

When Judy Heumann—one of the main subjects of the Oscar-nominated documentary Crip Camp—was five years old in the early 1950s, her mother tried to register her for kindergarten in New York City. The staff took one look at Judy, who used a wheelchair as a result of polio, and denied her.

Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal went into 2019’s Toronto International Film Festival without a distributor. Now, a year-and-a-half on, it’s a six-time Oscar nominee and perhaps the most hard-fought of all of this year’s crop of Best Picture candidates. Joe Utichi meets Marder and stars Riz Ahmed and Paul Raci to take stock of a film that transformed its key players in ways they hadn’t expected.

The Oscar-nominated filmmaking team behind the documentary Time are looking forward to a reunion at Union Station in Los Angeles, the main venue for this year’s Academy Awards. Director-producer Garrett Bradley and producers Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn haven’t seen each other in person for a while, because of Covid-19.

EXCLUSIVE: WME has signed James Reed, the co-writer and director behind My Octopus Teacher, Netflix’s first original documentary from South Africa that is up for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. It follows Foster as he free-dives in a cold underwater kelp forest in South Africa and develops a relationship with a wild common octopus and documents a year in the unusual friendship.

In the Oscar-nominated documentary short A Concerto Is a Conversation, acclaimed composer Kris Bowers traces a line from his family history to the premiere performance of his original concerto "For a Younger Self" at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2019. Following that line is Horace Bowers Jr., Kris Bowers' 91-year-old grandfather, who sits down with his grandson to tell the story of his journey out of the Jim Crow-era South in the pursuit of his American Dream.

For his Oscar-nominated animated short film, Opera, director Erick Oh wanted to create an animation that captured the essence of human history. The looping cycle style of animation was ideal for the story he wanted to tell, which Oh attributes to the cyclical nature of history.

Jon Burlingame Four Vietnam vets return to the place that changed their lives. An alcoholic screenwriter creates a masterpiece.

Laika, the studio behind animated films such as Oscar-nominatedCoraline, ParaNorman and Kubo and the Two Strings,is making its foray into live-action. The Oregon studio has optioned Seventeen, the upcoming first novel by John Brownlow, with plans toadapt the title as its first live-action production.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorLaika, the animation studio behind “The Boxtrolls” and “ParaNorman” is expanding into live action. As part of its expansion, the studio has optioned screenwriter John Brownlow’s debut novel “Seventeen” with plans to adapt the action thriller, signaling a new direction.Founded in 2005, Laika is best known for its stop-motion animation features.

The Goldbergs star George Segal, who became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, has died at the age of 87, his wife said. Segal, who was Oscar-nominated for 1966 black comedy-drama ‘Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’, died on Tuesday in Santa Rosa, California.

George Segal, the Oscar-nominated actor whose credits range from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Where’s Poppa? to Just Shoot Me and The Goldbergs, died today. He was 87.

Riz Ahmed has made Oscars history as the first Muslim and first person of Pakistani descent to be recognised in the Best Actor category for his role in Sound of Metal. Ahmed, who hails from Wembley, told Deadline: "If there's a way in which people can find themselves in this moment, and can feel inspired and connected on a deeper level, I'm all for it.

Andra Day — correction: Best Actress nominee Andra Day — couldn’t be more excited. ET spoke with the star following news of her Oscar nomination Monday to get the details on how she first learned she was nominated and what this recognition means to her. “When I looked at my phone I saw that it was full of messages,” she shared about first realizing she was nominated.

That’s something we really need now, when so many countries are dealing with manipulative, corrupt and incompetent politicians.”Also Read: 'Collective' Named Top Documentary at Cinema Eye Honors“Collective” follows a team of Romanian journalists in the aftermath of a 2015 nightclub fire that killed 27 people.

“Wolfwalkers” director Tomm Moore and co-director Ross Stewart joined Carlos Bustamante to talk about the making of their animated folklore feature film, which they finished off in quarantine to get it ready in time for its premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.

Priyanka Chopra cutely pops her heel during a sweet moment with husband Nick Jonas while announcing the 2021 Oscars nominations on Monday morning (March 15).