‘C.O.S.M.O.S.’ Movie In The Works At Paramount Animation, Described As A Mix Of ‘Men In Black’, ‘Willy Wonka’, And ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’
Since forming in 2011, Paramount Animation has only produced five films. But there’s a new one in development at the studio: aC.O.S.M.O.S.movie, which will be based on the forthcoming children’s book series byTom Wheeler(Puss in Boots,The Cape,Cursed). It’s an adventure story which Hollywood insiders reportedly describe as like “Men in BlackmeetsWilly Wonkawith a shout out toHitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Here’s what we know about the project thus far.
The Hollywood Reportersays that Paramount Animation has optioned the film rights toC.O.S.M.O.S., a book series written by Wheeler. The first book, calledThe Doomsday Vault, is said to be coming out on June 20, 2025, so Paramount Animation snagged this one very early. (So early, in fact, that information about the book is not even listed on Wheeler’s publisher’s website.) But THR’s insiders describe the story as “an epic, mind-bending adventure that celebrates curiosity, diversity, and the power of science to save our world.” That’s a little too generic to get super excited about a film adaptation right now, especially since we know so little about the source material. Wheeler is said to be writing the screenplay.
Paramount Animation does not exactly have a great track record so far. They’ve made twoSpongeBobmovies (the second,The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, will be released in the United Statesnext month), a film calledSherlock Gnomes, and then two outright disasters. There was 2019’sWonder Park, which was so bad that it was released without a director’s name attached to it (which almostneverhappens). But before that, there was 2017’sMonster Trucks, which was originated by – and I promise this is not a joke – the four-year-old son of Paramount’s president at the time. And the thing aboutMonster Truckswas…it wasn’t even animated. Yep, Paramount Animation produced a live-action movie. So if that’s possible, who knows ifC.O.S.M.O.S.is going to be animated or live-action? Up is down, left is right, there’s chaos in the streets.
Meanwhile, Paramount Animation has three more movies up its sleeve that will supposedly be released this year: an animated wrestling monster movie calledRumble,PAW Patrol: The Movie, and a still-untitledMy Little Ponyfilm. Naturally, plans for those releases could shift at any second given the ongoing nature of the pandemic, so we’ll have to see what happens. But I guess…start get pumped forC.O.S.M.O.S.in a few years?
