The 2022 computer-animated martial arts comedy Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank is helmed by Rob Minkoff & Mark Koetsier, with additional direction from Chris Bailey. The 1974 Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles served as a loose inspiration for the screenplay by Ed Stone and Nate Hopper. Michael Cera, Ricky Gervais, Mel Brooks, George Takei, Aasif Mandvi, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Hounsou, Michelle Yeoh, and Samuel L. Jackson are among the voices that appear in it.
Movie Plot: Hank, a down-on-his-luck dog, travels to a community of cats in need of a hero to protect them from Ika Chu's nefarious scheme to destroy their village and clear them from the map. The underdog must train under a reluctant trainer to become a samurai and work with the cats to save the day with the assistance of Jimbo, a former samurai. The only major issue is they all DESPISE dogs!
This film has been a long time coming! Around 2010, Yair Landau, co-founder of Sony Pictures Animation and former head of Mass Animation, had the idea for Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, which was then known as Blazing Samurai and was motivated by the then-current trend of westernizing Asian films. The story's original plan called for a black samurai to guard an East Asian town, but in an effort to make it more relatable, the focus was switched to cats and dogs. At one point, Chris Rock was being considered as a co-producer. The movie's official release date was slated for November 2014, with Rob Minkoff attached to produce and GFM Films handling worldwide distribution. Ed Stone and Nate Hopper wrote the screenplay for the movie. The U.S. distribution rights were bought by Open Road Films in February 2015, and Chris Bailey and Mark Koetsier were lined up to helm. Susan Purcell joined the cast as a producer as well.
The movie was re-announced in November 2019 after Aniventure joined the project. The budget was $45 million, of which $29 million came from Aniventure and $16 million from "original equity" tax credits from Canada. Adrian Politowski's Align announced in August 2020 that it will assist with executive producing and financing the movie. A first look in February 2021 revealed that producers Guy Collins and Adam Nagle had taken over for Landau and Purcell. At this point, Mark Koetsier and Rob Minkoff were both moved to the position of director, replacing Chris Bailey, who departed the project to serve as the showrunner for Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? Despite this, Yair Landau and Susan Purcell as well as Bailey continue to be given contractual credit for producing and directing the movie, respectively.
Up until the company's demise in 2016, Arc Productions was supposed to supply the majority of the animation for the movie. It was announced in November 2019 that Cinesite would take over the animation responsibilities, with its Montreal facilities handling the majority of the production and its Vancouver facilities providing extra assistance. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant portion of the animation and some of the voiceovers were done remotely.
The musical score's composer, Bear McCreary, was announced in June 2021.
The movie is scheduled to premiere on July 15, 2022. GFM Animation sold the distribution rights to Paramount Pictures for $10 million. Its planned April 14, 2017, Open Road Films release date was postponed to August 4, 2017. According to sources in November 2019, the movie was still in the "initial animatic stage" at the animation company Cinesite, with a 2021 release date scheduled. After purchasing the movie, Paramount stated in January 2022 that it will release it on July 22, 2022, replacing Paramount Animation's Under the Boardwalk.
A Big Nate short will screen in theaters with Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank.