Harold and the Purple Crayon (film)

Harold and the Purple Crayon is an upcoming American live-action/animated fantasy comedy film directed by Carlos Saldanha from a screenplay by David Guion and Michael Handelman, based on the 1955 children's book of the same title by Crockett Johnson. It will star Zachary Levi in the titular role, with Lil Rel Howery, Jemaine Clement, Tanya Reynolds, and Zooey Deschanel in supporting roles. The film serves as a sequel to the original book, where, after the adventurous Harold grows up with his magical purple crayon and draws himself off the book's pages and into the physical world, he finds that he has a lot to learn about real life.

Produced by Columbia Pictures in association with producer John Davis through Davis Entertainment, the film is scheduled to be released in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing on August 2, 2024, in theaters.

Cast

 * Zachary Levi as Harold, a man who has had a magical purple crayon since his childhood which makes whatever he draws come to life
 * Lil Rel Howery as Moose, a moose who is one of Harold's friends and becomes human in the real world
 * Benjamin Bottani as Mel, Terri's son who befriends Harold
 * Zooey Deschanel as Terri, a single mom and Harold's love interest
 * Jemaine Clement as Gary, a man who gets a hold of a piece of Harold's crayon to use for evil
 * Tanya Reynolds as Porcupine, a porcupine who is one of Harold's friends and becomes human in the real world
 * Alfred Molina as The Narrator
 * Ravi Patel
 * Camille Guaty
 * Pete Gardner
 * Seth Robbins

Development
In 1992, John B. Carls formed the family-film production company, Wild Things Productions, with Maurice Sendak, writer and illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are. They acquired rights to other children's books, including Harold and the Purple Crayon, whose author, Crockett Johnson, was a mentor to Sendak. Sendak and Denise Di Novi were producers. In 1994, Michael Tolkin was brought in to write the script and Henry Selick was to direct, but Selick moved on to James and the Giant Peach for Walt Disney Pictures. Carls picked Spike Jonze to develop the film, a combination of live action and animation. David O. Russell was brought in to help with rewrites. Multiple screenplays, casting, storyboards, and animation work started, but Jonze had to abandon the project after more than a year of working on it when new management at TriStar Pictures stopped it, two months before principal photography was to begin.

In February 2010, it was reported that Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment were developing an animated film adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon, to be produced by Smith and James Lassiter and written by Josh Klausner. In December 2016, it was reported that the film would also be written by Dallas Clayton.

Resurgence
On February 1, 2021, it was reported that Zachary Levi would star in the film, though it was initially not stated what role he would play at that time, except that the film would now be a combination of live-action and animation. It was also announced that Carlos Saldanha was attached to direct the new film and that David Guion and Michael Handelman replaced Klausner and Clayton as screenwriters, with John Davis producing under his Davis Entertainment banner. Lil Rel Howery was announced as part of the cast on January 11, 2022. Zooey Deschanel and Ravi Patel were added in February 2022. Camille Guaty was cast on March 1, 2022. Tanya Reynolds and Pete Gardner joined in May 2022. In January 2024, it was revealed that Jemaine Clement had joined the cast, uniting with Saldanha after having previously voiced Nigel in Rio (2011) and its sequel, Rio 2 (2014), while Alfred Molina was revealed to be as the narrator.

Around the beginning of 2022, live-action filming took place in the Atlanta, Georgia, area. Gabriel Beristain served as the cinematographer.

Post-production
Tia Nolan serves as an editor for the film.

Visual effects
The visual effects were provided by Rising Sun Pictures, Folks VFX, Soho VFX, Opsis, Clear Angle Studio, Spin VFX, Nexodus and Mammal Studios, while the 2D animated sequences provided by Bent Image Lab.

Music
In February 2023, Batu Sener, who previously provided additional music to films composed by Saldanha's frequent collaborator John Powell, was announced to be composing the film's score.

Release
Harold and the Purple Crayon is scheduled to be released in theaters on August 2, 2024. It was originally scheduled to be released on January 27, 2023, and June 30, 2023.

Marketing
The first teaser posters were released on March 13, 2024, confirming that Harold will be played by Levi and that the character, originally a kid, will be portrayed as a grown man in the film. A trailer for the film was released on March 20, 2024. A second trailer was released on May 22, 2024. On June 25, 2024, Crayola partnered with Sony Pictures for a competition to find the specially wrapped purple crayons hidden in packs of the 24-count crayons. The lucky winner will be flown off on a family holiday to New York City and taken to the Crayola Experience as part of their prize.