March of the ‘Meerkats’ for Weinsteins

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The bros. specialize in the horror genre with Dimension films, they are trying to claim a stake in animation category and now, it looks like there is a buck to made with nature-related docs as a sound family film investment that began back with Winged Migration and has since become somewhat of a phenomenon with March of the Penguins. Teaming with BBC Films, The Weinstein Co. have agreed to co-finance the African wildlife feature.

James Honeyborne a producer/director who has made several nature-themed doc will direct the project simply titled The Meerkats. This furry little animal who hangs out in large groups and creates an underground habitat just about as complex as the New York subway system.

Neil Nightingale and David M. Thompson will serve as executive producers, with Joe Oppenheimer and Trevor Ingman producing. Michael Cole, co-president of production, and Rhodri Thomas, director of development and production, will oversee the project for the Weinstein Co. The BBC Natural History Unit has been involved in feature films that have developed from its own television series, such as “Blue Planet” and the forthcoming “Earth,” but this is the first time it has begun a project with intentions of producing it as a feature film.
The nature doc is set to start principal photography in November in the Kalahari Desert.