Pixar unveils new Italian sea monster movie: Luca

Pixar is a studio that rarely misses, and it’s latest project, an Italian slice-of-life movie called Luca, already looks enchanting.

Pixar, like every other studio in Hollywood, has been muddling through our current pandemic world as best it can. Originally, the new Pixar movie Soul was going to be released in June, but obviously that didn’t happen; it’s now scheduled for November 30 and we hope it holds.

But just because its release schedule is getting changed around doesn’t mean the studio isn’t working on new stuff. Today, they pulled the curtain back on another new project: Luca, about a childhood friendship in the Italian countryside…with a twist. The main character, Luca, isn’t just a young Italian boy; he’s also a sea monster from a world just below the surface.

“This is a deeply personal story for me, not only because it’s set on the Italian Riviera where I grew up, but because at the core of this film is a celebration of friendship,” said creator Enrico Casarosa. “Childhood friendships often set the course of who we want to become and it is those bonds that are at the heart of our story in Luca. So in addition to the beauty and charm of the Italian seaside, our film will feature an unforgettable summer adventure that will fundamentally change Luca.”

Check out the concept art below:

Image: Pixar/Disney

Casarosa has been with Pixar for years, working in various roles on movies like Ratatouille, Up, Coco and Incredibles 2. He also directed the Oscar-winning short La Luna, which also has a lot of Italian themes:

Pixar is one of those studios that rarely puts out a dud. It does happen (*cough cough* The Good Dinosaur cough cough*), but not often. Their movies tend to be events, and we have no reason to think Luca will be any different.

Luca gives me some Coco vibes in that it’s set in a very specific cultural milieu: Mexico in Coco and Italy in Luca. As Casarosa says, he’s drawing on his own personal experience with this movie, and that tends to make for the best stories.

Luca is scheduled to hit theaters on June 18, 2021. Let’s all hope the world is more or less back to normal by then and it’s actually safe to see movies.

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