Untitled The Secret of NIMH project

the currently untitled The Secret of NIMH is an upcoming American computer-animated dark fantasy adventure film directed by Joel Crawford, written by, and,  it is based on 's 1971 novel ' and loosely on ' by , it is also a direct sequel to the 1982 2D animated film The Secret of NIMH. The will feature the voices of Sigourney Weaver, Ralph Macchio,, , , Ron Howard, , and

The film will be produced by, MGM Studios and, and released through Paramount Pictures.

Cast and Characters

 * Sigourney Weaver as Elizabeth Brisby, a field mouse, mother of four, whose husband Jonathan has recently been killed in a tragic accident and went on a journey to cure her youngest son Timothy.
 * Ralph Macchio as Timothy Brisby, Brisby's youngest third child who fell ill to pneumonia, but eventually recovered.
 * as Martin Brisby, Brisby's rebellious, well-meaning and caring eldest son, and the second of four children he was husky but thinned over the last four decades.
 * as Teresa Brisby, Brisby's eldest quiet, well-mannered, and highly responsible daughter, and the first born of four children.
 * as Cynthia Brisby, Brisby's youngest daughter.
 * Ron Howard as Jeremy, a well-meaning but klutzy and somewhat awkward crow who helps Brisby in her journeys.
 * as Justin, one of the Rats of NIMH, a secret sect of Rats who escaped from a N.I.M.H research center and former Captain of the Guard to the Rats' sentry force.
 * as Nicodemus, a old wizard and seer, the former leader of the Rats of NIMH who died at the hands of Jenner from the first film.

Production
On July 27, 2009, it was announced that Paramount Pictures was working with Neil Burger on a remake of The Secret of NIMH; nothing has materialized since.

On March 4, 2015, Deadline Hollywood reported that MGM had re-acquired the rights to produce a new film based on the original novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. The film will be produced by the team of Daniel Bobker and Ehren Kruger, with screenplay by Ice Age series writer Michael Berg. It will be James Madigan's directorial debut. It is planned as a CGI/live-action hybrid of The Smurfs and Alvin and the Chipmunks, and will be "an origin story in which an imperiled mouse protagonist befriends a comical crew of lab rats as they turn hyper-intelligent. They escape a secret laboratory and become the great minds of vermin civilization, forced to outwit the humans hot on their tails." The studio plans to turn the novel into a family franchise.

On April 10, 2019, it was announced that the Russo brothers will be executive producers of the remake. Paramount later terminated the remake in favor of a CGI direct sequel with 40 year time gap with Brisby and her children as leaders of resistence with their allies Justin and Jeremy. Bluth, Goldman and Pomeroy will return as producers, executive producers include Dana Goldberg, and John Lasseter.

MGM will return to co-produce with and. will return to write the script with and  MGM and Skydance hired Joel Crawford (The Croods: A New Age) to direct.

Casting
Given most of the cast from the first are deceased the film will have a new cast: Sigourney Weaver as Mrs. Brisby, as Martin Brisby,  as Teresa Brisby,  as Cynthia Brisby and Ron Howard as Jeremy, returning cast members include Ralph Macchio as Timothy,  as Justin and,  as Nicodemus.

Animation
Animation services will be outsourced to in Beijing, China and  in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Each characters designs from the original film will altered to make them much older.