HUGH GRANT TAKES THE LEAD IN “THE PIRATES! IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS”

Hey maybe not everyone’s first answer to be a pirate but for Aardman Productions the animation studio behind Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit think he is as Hugh Grant is providing the voice for the Pirate Captain in THE PIRATES! IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS.

If Grant was to be in a Pirate Adventure you would probably assume he would be the English gentleman captain of the ship that would hunt down the pirates for the King (or queen), but this isn’t Pirates of The Caribbean nor is the Pirate Captain Jack Sparrow more like Daft Sparrow!

The animated movie which will be in 3D (What surprise!) is due out March 2012, check out the full press release below along with a first image of the movie too. Hugh Grant will be joined by Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek, Brian Blessed, Brendan Gleeson, and Ashley Jensen,. I’ll assume the filming has already started as a certain The Hobbit film starring Martin Freeman is shooting now on the other side of the world in New Zealand or is doing a naughty one and sneeking out of middle earth for the seven seas when Peter Jackson’s not looking?

HUGH GRANT TAKES THE LEAD IN “THE PIRATES! IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS

AN AARDMAN PRODUCTION FOR SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek, Brian Blessed, Brendan Gleeson, and Ashley Jensen Also On Board

LONDON, UK, May 5, 2011 – Hugh Grant will voice the lead role alongside an all-star cast in The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, the new stop-motion, 3D, animated film produced by Aardman Animations for Sony Pictures Animation. The film, which will be distributed by Columbia Pictures, will be released March 30, 2012 in the UK.

Hugh Grant, starring in his first animated role, is the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas.  With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award.  It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.  Along the way they do battle with the pirate-hating Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a young Charles Darwin (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure!

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, Aardman’s most ambitious stop-motion film to date, will be created with the same beautiful hand-crafted technique that the company brought to the Academy Award®-winning film Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Chicken Run.  The film is directed by Peter Lord, a founding partner of Aardman, director of Chicken Run (with Nick Park), and a two-time Academy Award® nominee for his short films at the company. The film is co-directed by Jeff Newitt. The screenplay is by Gideon Defoe, based upon his books.  Production Designer is Norman Garwood. Producers are Peter Lord, David Sproxton, and Julie Lockhart.  Executive Producer is Carla Shelley.

Commenting on the announcement, Lord said, “I’m so grateful to the entire cast for their talent and energy. The characters that they’ve created fill the screen with life and fun. As the Pirate Captain, Hugh Grant has given a stand-out performance – he combines an effortless on-screen warmth with brilliant comic timing. And as the leader of our motley pirate crew, he shows a real barnstorming, swashbuckling side of his character as well.  Only Hugh could anchor this story of love, loyalty, greed, and nautical high-jinks.”