A Place To Call Home
The Final Fantasy franchise has had a fairly rough time when it comes to adaptations over the years. Square’s first venture into film, the 2001 CGI movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, near bankrupted the company, leading to a merger that formed the current company, Square Enix. Now, they’re taking another shot at the silver screen, with an upcoming animated adaptation of the classic PS1 title Final Fantasy IX.
The adaptation is currently being worked on by the Paris-based animation group Cyber Group Studios, who’ll also be handling the distribution of the series. Interestingly, the animated series will be targeted towards children – specifically 8 to 13-year-olds. While there’s no indication yet of a release date or even an episode count, Cyber Group Studios are currently working on putting together a setting bible outlining the world and story of the original game, and they’re aiming to begin shopping the series to broadcasters in the next few months. Right now, the goal is to get a broadcaster secured so that production can begin in either late 2021 or early 2022.
Pierre Sissmann, the CEO of Cyber Group Studios, commented on how they’re aiming to make the show enjoyable for both people who have played the game and who’ve never experienced a Final Fantasy title before – “The games have a strong co-viewing potential. For those who do know Final Fantasy IX , this will be an [introduction], and for the many who don’t, this will immerse them in a universe they’ll love.”. Seeing as Final Fantasy IX deals with some pretty heavy themes in its plot – there’s at least one attempted genocide over the course of the game – it’ll be interesting to see how it’ll be made a bit more child-friendly.
Final Fantasy IX isn’t the only FF game getting an adaptation – an FF XIV series has been in the works for quite a while now, but it’s been a little bit since we’ve heard anything from the project. Here’s hoping we get updates from both series soon!