The streaming service is branching out with a French feature
French graphic novelist Jean-Marc Rochette is best known for Snowpiercer, the 1982 post-apocalyptic tale that Bong Joon Ho adapted for his first English-language film, which also inspired a 2020 TNT adaptation. Now, his 2019 comic The Wolf is also getting the feature treatment, with an animated thriller that will be available on Crunchyroll next year.
The Wolf is co-written and directed by Benjamin Massoubre and Fursy Tessier, who previously worked together on the twisted horror movie I Lost My Body. It follows Gaspard, a shepherd living alone in the Alps, who is haunted by the loss of his son. When a wandering wolf threatens his flock, Gaspard goes on a quest for vengeance where he is also forced to confront his own guilt and pain.
Both The Wolf and I Lost My Body are animated by French studio Xilam Films. The studio’s work on The Wolf will combine traditional drawing techniques and 3D animation to produce a live-action look.
Signing on to distribute a French film shows Crunchyroll is aiming to build on its immense anime catalogue by adding animation from around the globe. It’s a smart play as the streaming service competes with Netflix and Prime Video, which have been seeking to bolster their existing adult animation libraries with more anime to capitalize on the genre’s enormous popularity.