Paramount Animation Quietly Pulls the Plug on Josh Cooley’s ‘I Eat Poop’ Movie
Some movie titles get people talking right away, and the ‘I Eat Poop’ movie from Paramount Animation was one of them. When it was announced, Paramount Animation said it was developing Mark Pett’s 2021 picture book I Eat Poop: A Dung Beetle Story as a CG-animated film under its first-look deal with actor Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort. The title raised eyebrows, but the people behind it gave the project real credibility.
The biggest name attached was Josh Cooley. Best known for helming ‘Toy Story 4’ and ‘Transformers One’, Cooley was adapting the book and in negotiations to direct. Songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who wrote songs for the musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and the upcoming Seuss film ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’, were also involved through their Ampersand shingle.
That talent couldn’t save it. In a new exclusive look at the studio’s animation divisions, TheWrap reports that a number of projects have been removed from development under the new regime, including Cooley’s ‘I Eat Poop’, which was produced by Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort and based on the popular children’s book written and illustrated by Mark Pett. The outlet added, half-jokingly, that a dung beetle movie was always going to be a hard sell.
The book is less silly than its title suggests. It follows a young dung beetle who learns to overcome his insecurity about his diet and embrace his unique role in the insect kingdom, eventually standing up to the ground beetle bullies at his school. The story also includes plenty of scientific facts about bugs.
The film was set to expand that premise. According to the synopsis shared when the project was announced, Dougie struggles to hide who he is at his new school, but when a series of mysterious disappearances plagues the town, he and his community discover that what makes them different might be what makes them heroes. Brad Butler was overseeing the project for Paramount Animation.
The timing isn’t a coincidence. Skydance now has Paramount Animation, Skydance Animation and Warner Bros. Animation under one roof, and the new owners are rethinking all 3 slates. At Paramount Animation, Spin Master veteran Jennifer Dodge took over in January; she is described as a practical leader with a strong consumer products background and has put together an animated ‘Survivor’ movie with CBS.
‘I Eat Poop’ isn’t the only project affected. The Paramount+ ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ spinoff was quietly canceled, and reports conflict on the future of the animated TMNT saga, since Neal Moritz is developing a live-action TMNT film that could overshadow it.
The studio still has a lot planned. The slate includes ‘Diya’, a Bollywood musical, ‘Freddy the 13th’ for Halloween 2028, a fourth ‘Paw Patrol’ movie in 2029, a Robert Rodriguez Christmas comedy, and ‘The Angry Birds Movie 3’. Most of those are built on established brands, which seems to be the direction the new leadership favors.
For Cooley, this is a frustrating setback. He has been with Paramount Animation since leaving Pixar, and when the dung beetle project was announced, Paramount had given no indication of a ‘Transformers One’ sequel, so ‘I Eat Poop’ was going to be his next directing job.
Some fans were already lukewarm about him moving on from the Autobots. One commenter who spoke with Cooley at BotCon claimed he didn’t seem happy about the change and had plans, though that account hasn’t been confirmed. With the beetle movie gone, the Oscar winner currently has no announced project.
There’s still a larger question about Skydance’s 3 studios. TheWrap’s report asks whether Skydance can run all 3 animation studios successfully, noting that Disney and Universal each kept only 2 feature animation units. ‘I Eat Poop’ probably won’t be the last project cut as that plays out.
Do you think Paramount made the right call by canceling I Eat Poop?
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