Alibaba, Harry Potter producer to make Warriors movie about warring cats

It’s ‘such a perfect Chinese-British story’, with its universal themes of adventure, forbidden love and good versus evil, says David Heyman of film based on young-adult fiction series

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British Harry Potter producer David Heyman gives fans autographs at the British embassy in Beijing, where he and Alibaba Pictures announced they would make a fantasy movie, Warriors. Photo: AP

Published: 11:40am, 21 Nov 2016Updated: 11:40am, 21 Nov 2016

The film unit of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and the British Harry Potter producer David Heyman have announced that they will make a fantasy movie, Warriors, based on a book series about warring cats.

The live-action film with computer-generated cats is based on the British books for young adults about clans of wild cats, with themes including adventure, forbidden love and good versus evil. The series has a fan following in countries including China, and the film is intended for worldwide audiences.

David Heyman also produced Gravity and Paddington. Photo: AP

Heyman, an independent film producer behind Paddington and Gravity , said he sought out Alibaba when he was in China almost two years ago on a trip to promote Paddington, British creativity and British-Chinese cultural exchange.

“This is becoming the largest market in the world, so you are looking to understand that market,” he said at a news conference at the British embassy in Beijing.

“It’s hard to get a film made today, I’ve had some success but every time you start a film you start a new business, so I’m always looking for people over the world.”