Sony's Columbia Pictures is reaching way back into the history of children's literature to bring a beloved classic to the big screen with Peter Rabbit. 2016 marks the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter's birth, and to celebrate the author of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", a new feature film that marries live-action with computer-generated animation will be coming to theaters in April of 2018.

The Late Late Show host James Corden will be voicing the title role of a mischievous rabbit who aims to get into Mr. McGregor's garden to feast upon the tasty vegetables within. Also joining the cast of writer/director Will Gluck's picture will be Rose Byrne playing the author herself, who was in her 30s around the time she began writing the "Peter Rabbit" stories, as well as Daisy Ridley and Elizabeth Debicki who will voice other roles. Corden and Byrne had been in talks to join the film since early August, but Ridley and Debicki come as new additions. Though those characters haven't been reported just yet, it's likely that Ridley and Debicki will be playing two of Peter's three sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail. There's also the role of Peter's mother Mrs. Josephine Rabbit to be cast as well.


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Image via CBS

Animation for Peter Rabbit will be handled by Sydney, Australia-based VFX studio Animal Logic, which was the production studio behind The LEGO Movie. Plans are for production to kick off this coming January. Fans of "Peter Rabbit" can also expect a resurgence of marketing material to come in the lead-up to the film's early 2018 release. Peter Rabbit‘s publisher Frederick Warne & Co., part of Penguin Random House UK, and Columbia Pictures have partnered up for a worldwide push of a licensing and merchandising campaign. And if the first installment proves successful, there are plenty of future books to explore for possible sequels, like "The Tale of Benjamin Bunny" and "The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies" to name but two.

Are you intrigued/excited/curious to see a Peter Rabbit film? Let us know in the comments!

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