Animation is inspired by hit French comic series of the same name.

Paris-based digital production house Ankama has completed the first phase of animation on its upcoming feature film inspired by hit French comic series Mutafukaz, revolving around the fantasy world of Dark Meat City.

The French transmedia giant is best known internationally for its cult fantasy online game world Dofus, which it is also currently adapting to the big screen.

Mutafukaz will be our second film. It will be ready in 2017,” said Ankama audiovisual director Frédéric Puech.

It is a joint production between Ankama and Japanese Studio 4°C.

“We’ve just finished the first phase of animation and we’re currently editing and doing post-production,” he said.

Puech was speaking on the fringes of the “Cinema and Transmedia” pitching session in Cannes on Saturday (May 16), organised by French cross-media event Cross Video Days, running June 11-12 in Paris.

Puech presented Ankama’s upcoming Dofus – Book 1: Julith, the first in a trilogy of films inspired by the online game played by 2.5m players.

The feature-length animation, which is being sold by Paris-based Indie Sales at Cannes, is due hit cinemas in France this October where it will be distributed by Gebeka on some 350 copies.  

Puech revealed that Ankama would be teasing the feature in the online game and also reaching out to audiences who did not know the franchise through a series of ‘Dofus Days’ across the country.

Other projects presented at the event included Morphosis, an app, directed by Pierre Cattan and co-produced by Paris-based Small Bang & Galatée Films to accompany Jacques Perrin’s upcoming feature documentary Les Saisons.