quietearth [Celluloid 06.17.12] scifi fantasy adventure



Benoit Sokal's (creator of the video game Paradise and the comic series Inspector Canardo) and Francois Schuiten's (production designer on The Golden Compass and Mr. Nobody) fantasy-laced Aquarica film has been in development for 10 years and it looks like it's finally moving forward. This maritime adventure is based on the idea of mammoth whale archipelagos which not only house entire flourishing ecosystems, but their own civilizations as well.

Martin Villeneuve, the man behind the highly anticipated scifier Mars et Avril is currently working on the script which Sokal and Schuiten started. The film will use CGI and motion capture technology similar to Steven Spielberg's Tintin.


No producers have yet been officially attached. Packaging and financing will take place in 2013.

Concept art below!

The inhabitants of Roodhaven, a once flourishing whaling port, one day see a curious boat wash up, assembled from various elements of great disappeared merchant ships. Aboard, a young woman, Mary, presents herself as the great-granddaughter of the captain of "Aquarica", a schooner which once was the pride and joy of the port. In an antiquated language full of forgotten expressions she speaks of her people, who live on mysterious islands on the Ocean. Islands that, imperceptibly, have slowly started moving northward. As if they have become alive, responding to a strange and irrepressible call. What if the legend of the fabulous Mastodonwhales was a reality? Sailors from all over the world heard stories of these mythic animals, but no one had ever seen them. Gigantic whales, floating in a quasi lethargy at the heart of warm seas, their back covered with soil. A luxurious vegetation develops there, even protecting savage wildlife, camouflaged as small archipelagos. But once every generation, the Mastodonwhales go on their last voyage towards the frozen waters which saw their birth, to reproduce and die there. For the love of Mary, a young scientist, Greyford, will try to save the island people and above all preserve the Mastodonwhales from the murderous craze of a team led by the fierce Wil Baltimore, at the commands of the "Killer", the greatest whaling ship ever created.





If you search, you'll find even more art available around the net.

You might also like

Umberto (11 months ago) Reply

Benoit Sokal is a genious i have Syberia videogame and it's fantastic tale! more info about this multimedial project at this site (only in italian language)http://www.fantascienza.com/magazine/notizie/9634/aquarica-in-viaggio-con-sokal-e-schuiten/

Umberto (11 months ago) Reply

two marvelous sketches at this site http://www.adventuresplanet.it/scheda_immagini.php?game=aquarica

Charles Widmore (10 months ago) Reply

"Admiral, there be whales here!"

innasylum (10 months ago) Reply

sound real similar to lucius shepard's "the dragon griaule" concept.

Joseph le Perdriel (10 months ago) Reply

More art work at http://www.altaplana.be/dictionary/aquarica

Leave a comment

Your Comment