Netflix has revealed a first look at the animated film Nimona. Based on the 2015 ND Stevenson graphic novel of the same name, the film will center on Nimona, a shape-shifting teenage girl who must help a knight prove his innocence after being framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Originally started as a series of web shorts on the social media platform Tumblr, Nimona quickly gained popularity and was eventually compiled into a graphic novel where it landed on The New York Times bestseller list and won multiple awards.
Nimona grabbed the attention of major motion picture studios, with 20th Century Fox Animation first acquiring the rights to the webcomic in 2015. Blue Sky Studios, a subsidiary of Fox at the time, was tasked to produce the film. With Patrick Osborne set to direct and a script penned by Kubo and the Two Strings scribe Marc Haimes, the film was slated to be released January 2022. However, in February 2021, Blue Sky Studios was shut down by Disney — which owned Fox following their acquisition of the company in 2019 — and the production of Nimona was canceled.
However, in a surprise announcement, Netflix revealed it picked up the project following its cancellation by Disney and released the first look at Nimona. Chloë Grace Moretz will star as the titular character with The Sound of Metal‘s Riz Ahmed playing Ballister Blackheart and The Try Guys’ Eugene Lee Yang playing Ambrosius Goldenloin. Check out the image of Nimona and Blackheart below and read the official synopsis of the upcoming film:
“A Knight is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona, a shape-shifting teen who might also be a monster he’s sworn to kill. Set in a techno-medieval world unlike anything animation has tackled before, this is a story about the labels we assign to people and the shapeshifter who refuses to be defined by anyone.”
After a long development road at multiple companies, as well as a touch of controversy, Nimona‘s future finally looks set on Netflix. When Blue Sky Studios was shuttered, with Disney citing financial concerns due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was later revealed by a number of former employees that a same-sex kiss was removed from the film due to pressure by Disney. This only added to the recent backlash the company has faced over CEO Bob Chapek’s response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Whether or not the aforementioned kiss has been added back into the film is as yet unknown.
Nimona has been a huge hit in the graphic novel scene, jump-starting ND Stevenson’s career in both the literature and animation industries. Their graphic novel Lumbjanes is slated for an animated adaptation on HBO Max and they have created and served as a writer for the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power reboot. If their multiple award-winning graphic novels and television series are any indication of what to expect for Nimona, then old fans and new will undoubtedly be pleased with the upcoming film. Nimona is slated for a 2023 release.
