A quintet of stars are set to lead the voice cast for “The Turning Door,” the newly-announced family fantasy epic being written and directed by filmmaker and VFX supervisor Nicholas Ashe Bateman (“The Wanting Mare”).
Alicia Vikander (“Firebrand,” “The Danish Girl”), Jamie Dornan (“Belfast”), Jodie Turner-Smith (“Tron: Ares”), Bill Nighy (“Living”) and Gillian Anderson (“Sex Education”) have joined the film, being produced by Christine D’Souza Gelb of 2AM (“Babygirl,” “Past Lives”) with Bateman and Hunter Hall of Maere Studios (“An Almost Christmas Story”). The film will feature original music and songs written by People Museum’s Claire Givens (“Mother Mary”) and Bateman. Production is currently underway.
Mister Smith Entertainment is onboard for international sales and will introduce footage from the film to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market. 2AM is handling North American sales.
“The Turning Door” follows a young girl called Ariadlyn, who is sent to bed as a party rages downstairs. Escaping her bedtime, she slips into her parents’ room, where she discovers an ornate wooden box, opening a door to a magical world called The Turning. To find her way back home and save her parents — now frozen in the real world — Ariadlyn must seek out a sorceress and her crystal vial. Along the way, she will encounter giants, whales, armies, shapeshifters and acrobatic monkeys as she discovers what it means to grow up.
The films marks Bateman’s second feature following 2020’s critically acclaimed sci-fi fantasy “The Wanting Mare.” He is the founder of Maere Studios, the award-winning VFX and animation studio, designing effects for films such as “The Green Knight,” “Origin,” “Hocus Pocus 2,” “Mother Mary,” “Peter Pan and Wendy” and “An Almost Christmas Story.”
“The pictures, places and songs of ‘The Turning Door’ have been with me since I was a child,” said Bateman. “Thematically, its world is a combination of the ones which have filled me with wonder since I was little: the Neverlands, Wonderlands and all those adventures in far-off fantasies. Technically, the film is the result of the past 15 years of trying to make stories — while developing the tools, the dreams and the incredible artists needed to pursue them. More than ever, it’s important to believe that independent animation made by passionate artists and a dream cast has a place in the world; entirely new cinematic experiences — made by people — without any generative AI.”
Added Mister Smith CEO David Garrett: “Anyone with a heart and with an appreciation of the magic of filmmaking cannot help but fall in love with this film. It has the makings of a classic for all audiences for all time.”
Mister Smith’s current sales slate includes Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s psychosexual thriller/horror “Bone Lake,” Directors’ Fortnight selection “Dangerous Animals,” Christmas comedy “Tinsel Town,” SXSW Narrative Spotlight selection “The Threesome,” magical realist drama “The Accompanist,” drama “Everybody Digs Bill Evans,” action/spy thriller “Blake & Mortimer: The Yellow M,” supernatural horror thriller “Hide and Don’t Speak” and faith-based family epic “In the Beginning.”
