Chris Pratt to Voice Garfield in New Animated Movie

Hollywoodreporter.com: Chris Pratt is going to voice the lasagna-loving, Monday-hating comic strip feline Garfield in a new animated movie.

Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson’s Alcon Entertainment is behind the new Garfield, which has been picked up for worldwide (excluding China) release by Sony Pictures. The script, written by Oscar nominee David Reynolds (Finding Nemo), is being directed by Mark Dindal (Chicken Little), with the duo having previously worked together on Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove.

Created by Jim Davis, Garfield first appeared in comics sections in 1978, with the lazy orange tabby cat often causing problems for Jon Arbuckle, his human owner, and the lovable household dog Odie. Garfield, which debuted in 41 newspapers, currently holds the record as the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world.

Alcon acquired the rights from Davis, who will serve as an executive producer on the film along with Bridget McMeel from Amuse and Craig Sost. John Cohen and Steven P. Wegner produce alongside Kosove and Johnson. DNEG Animation, which recently worked in the animated feature Ron’s Gone Wrong, will animate and produce the film. DNEG CEO Namit Malhotra and president Tom Jacomb are both serving as producers.

Garfield previously appeared on the big screen in live-action/animated hybrid Garfield in 2004 and its sequel, 2006’s Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties. In these movies, both produced by 20th Century Fox, Bill Murray voiced the titular cat.

Pratt’s voice work includes the Lego Movie films and Pixar’s Onward as well as the upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated feature from Universal and Nintendo, where he will be voicing Mario. The actor, repped by UTA, Rise Management and Sloane Offer, was most recently seen in Amazon’s sci-fi feature The Tomorrow War and is due back in theaters in June with Jurassic World: Dominion.

Reynolds, who started his career writing for Late Night With Conan O’Brien, is repped by Gersh.