It was inevitable that some potential gems from within 20th Century Fox would get the ax as soon as Disney came in started futzing with everything. Today, we learn of one such project that has been confirmed as canceled. for some time, The Maze Runner director Wes Ball was working to adapt the Eisner-winning comic Mouse Guard for an animated film.

The film would use state-of-the-art motion performance techniques to bring the rodents to life, and was set to star the likes of Andy Serkis and Idris Elba. Sadly, in the wake of Fox’s acquisition, it looks like that project has been officially canned, as Ball revealed in a tweet.

“Yes sadly, its true. Our #mouseguard movie is dead.

Seems it’s too big a risk. It’s a damn shame really. We had something special. To my hella talented cast/crew: I’m sorry I couldn’t push this one through. The past year with you all has been a blast. May the Guard prevail!”

https://twitter.com/wesball/status/1143738645494415364

The tweet also featured a two-minute video that started out looking at the source material before popping up toward a video of motion performance as well as some concept art, physical models, and all the hard work they put into the project.

But if you want something more concrete than that, Ball also put up a nearly ten-minute video that was created inside Unreal Engine as an early test. While the idea of motion performed mice seems a bit creepy, what we see here in the test is amazingly solid.

I’m especially sad to see this go because it’s not often that we get more serious animated adventures in the states. They usually have to be given the comedy flavor to appeal to a wider audience. In fact, that’s probably why it was canceled to begin with.

What do you think of this project getting canceled? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Wes Ball