OSCAR nominee Mark Osborne, who directed “Kung Fu Panda” and “The Little Prince,” is directing “Escape From Hat,” a new animated feature film for Netflix, the streaming service announced Friday. Adam Kline (“Artemis Fowl,” “The Clockwork War”) is writing the project, which begins production this month in New York and which is based on Kline’s own middle-grade novel of the same name, which HarperCollins will publish in winter 2020.

The film is slated for 2022.

“Escape From Hat” is set in a fairy tale world full of bad black cats and magic rabbits. Osborne also will produce with Jinko Gotoh — the two previously worked together on “The Little Prince” and Gotoh is also producing Sergio Pablos’ animated feature “Klaus” for Netflix.

“‘Escape From Hat’ tells a story about friendship and magic, which perfectly mirrors how I feel about getting to reunite with my friend Mark at Netflix after 10 years,” Melissa Cobb, vice president of kids & family at Netflix, said in announcing the project. “I cannot wait for audiences around the world to immerse themselves in our fantastical magic trick gone awry, where they will find an epic and imaginative world of good versus evil.” Mark Osborne

“Netflix is shaking up the animated feature world in highly inventive ways, including offering filmmakers the rare opportunity to turn their dream project into a reality,” Osborne said.(SD-Agencies)