Cynthia Erivo is getting animated.
The three-time Academy Award-nominated and Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award-winning actress will star in the animated musical “Bad Fairies,” from Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Locksmith Animation. The film “follows a delightfully subversive gang of fairies as they shake up their magical world.”
Erivo, making her first lead in an animated feature film, will voice Jayne Staplegun, “a trailblazing fairy whose defiant streak sparks a rebellion.”
The film is directed by Megan Nicole Dong, the creator of Netflix’s musical animated series “Centaurworld,” and co-directed by Olivier Staphylas, a head of character animation on “Wish Dragon.” They are working from an original screenplay by Deborah Frances-White. The Tony Award–winning duo of Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss (“Six: The Musical”) will write the original songs and multiple Grammy-nominated Isabella “Machine” Summers (from pop band Florence + The Machine) will be composing the score and contributing to the songs. Carolyn Soper is producer.
“Bad Fairies” is currently in production in London, with DNEG Animation providing the animation. It will be the first feature released under the first look deal between Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Locksmith Animation.
Sim Evan-Jones will serve as the “Bad Fairies” editor, James C.J. Williams is cinematographer, Uwe Heidschötter is the character designer and Rikke Asbjoern and Chris Garbutt are heads of story.
Other upcoming projects from Warner Bros. Pictures Animation include Dr. Seuss adaptations “The Cat in the Hat” and “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” (starring Erivo’s “Wicked” co-star Ariana Grande), DC Studios project “Dynamic Duo” (from new studio Swaybox) and an adaptation of Marissa Meyer’s fantasy book series “The Lunar Chronicles.”
Erivo is repped by UTA, Entertainment 360, Peikoff Mahan and The Lede Company. The animated feature will be released on May 21, 2027.
