Denmark’s Interactive Television Entertainment is making the leap to features with a 3-D animated movie starring flagship troll Hugo. The co-pro between ITE and Denmark’s Sandrew Metronome, called Hugo and the Diamond Moon, is in early development with a budget set at around US$12 to US$15 million. ITE’s animated Hugo TV series has been distributed internationally in over 25 countries since the early 1990s.

Animator J¿rgen Klubien has been hired as development writer and artist on the film. Klubien spent more than 20 years working for such companies as Pixar and Disney, on projects including Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life, Mulan and The Lion King. At least one other top-rated American will accompany Klubien on the project, with the remainder of the animation and writing team sourced from Europe. The Hugo feature will be accompanied by a soundtrack album. VR