Netflix’s most high-profile animated movie of 2022 was perhaps understandably Pinocchio, but the streamer did release some other pretty solid animated features and shows throughout last year. One of those was The Sea Beast, a fun throwback CG film about sailors hunting down giant underwater creatures, and a film that we called one of the year’s best animated outings. Good news: we’re getting another one.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, its director and co-writer Chris Williams has inked a deal with Netflix that includes a Sea Beast sequel. The second movie is expected to bring back the first film’s leading duo, Jacob Holland (Karl Urban) and his adoptive daughter Maisie Brumble (Zaris-Angel Hator). According to THR, the first movie was a hit for Netflix; the most-viewed animated movie in the streamer’s 25-year history, and the second-longest time in Netflix’s Top 10 for the year at seven straight weeks.
“I never thought beyond the first movie. We were not planning for a series,” said Williams, who added that Netflix had been incredibly kind to him while making the first movie. Though the first movie ended pretty neatly, he did offer up the idea of a sequel showing Jacob and Maisie now having to truly adjust to being a family. “Suddenly Jacob is a parent, a parent to an especially willful kid, right? […] So the idea of the challenges of this new family became interesting to me.”
Also on Williams’ docket with Netflix is an original fantasy film. That film, which currently remains untitled, was described as having a scope similar to Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, as it’ll have “a huge world with multiple events going on outside the story being told,” while still feeling as complete as The Sea Beast. But in terms of tone, Williams likened it to The Princess Bride: “I want to have fun with some of the conventions…It’s not parody and it’s not making fun of it, but it has a perspective that is light and refreshing.”
Both projects are being developed by Williams side by side, though at least one of those will end up being co-directed by Sea Beast story head Owen Sullivan. As far as which one comes first, that’s up in the air, but should things go Williams’ way, he’ll be able to tout both movies on his resume in the near future. “The intention is to ultimately make them both.”
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