Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rob Minkoff Mark Koetsier Chris Bailey[a]
Screenplay by	Ed Stone Nate Hopper Mel Brooks Norman Steinberg Andrew Bergman Richard Pryor Alan Uger
Story by	Andrew Bergman
Based on	Blazing Saddles[b]
Produced by	Rob Minkoff Adam Nagle Peter Nagle Guy Collins Yair Landau[c] Susan Purcell[c]
Starring	Michael Cera Ricky Gervais George Takei Gabriel Iglesias Michelle Yeoh Samuel L. Jackson
Cinematography	Olaf Skjenna (layout)
Edited by	Michael Andrews
Music by	Bear McCreary
Production companies	Flying Tigers Entertainment Align GFM Animation HB Wink Animation Aniventure Cinesite
Distributed by	Sky Cinema (United Kingdom) Paramount Pictures (under Nickelodeon Movies; select territories) Huayi Brothers (China)
Release dates	July 10, 2022 (2022-07-10) (Los Angeles) July 15, 2022 (2022-07-15) (United States) July 22, 2022 (2022-07-22) (United Kingdom)
Running time	98 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States China
Language	English
Budget	$45 million[1]
Box office	$42.5 million[2]

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank is a 2022 animated martial arts comedy film directed by Rob Minkoff, Mark Koetsier and Chris Bailey (in Koetsier and Bailey's feature directorial debut). A loose remake of the 1974 live-action film Blazing Saddles,^[b][4] it stars the voices of Michael Cera, Ricky Gervais, George Takei, Gabriel Iglesias, Michelle Yeoh and Samuel L. Jackson with supporting roles done by Mel Brooks, Aasif Mandvi, and Djimon Hounsou. The film takes place in a world of anthropomorphic animals, in which a dog named Hank learns to become a samurai to save a cat village from a conniving landlord.

The project was first announced by producer Yair Landau in 2010 as Blazing Samurai in response to the then-recent trend of westernizing Asian films. The development of the film continued between 2014 and 2016 with Mass Animation handling production and Open Road Films acquiring the United States distribution rights before dropped out in 2017, following the closure of Open Road Films. It was later re-announced in November 2019 after Aniventure joined as the new producing studio with a planned 2021 release. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the final animation was done remotely from the crew's homes as were some of the voice recordings.

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank was scheduled to be released in 2017, but was delayed several times, mainly due to distributor changes and the COVID-19 pandemic. It eventually premiered in Los Angeles on July 10, 2022, and was released in the United States on July 15, by Paramount Pictures under the Nickelodeon Movies imprint, and in the United Kingdom on July 22, by Sky Cinema. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $42 million worldwide.

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