Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Zack Snyder
Screenplay by	John Orloff Emil Stern
Based on	Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky
Produced by	Zareh Nalbandian
Starring	Helen Mirren Geoffrey Rush Jim Sturgess Hugo Weaving Emily Barclay Abbie Cornish Ryan Kwanten Anthony LaPaglia Miriam Margolyes Sam Neill Richard Roxburgh David Wenham
Edited by	David Burrows
Music by	David Hirschfelder
Production companies	Village Roadshow Pictures[1] Animal Logic[1] GOG Productions[2]
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures (United States)[2] Roadshow Entertainment (Australia/New Zealand)[3]
Release dates	September 19, 2010 (2010-09-19) (Grauman's Chinese Theatre) September 24, 2010 (2010-09-24) (United States) September 30, 2010 (2010-09-30) (Australia)
Running time	97 minutes[2]
Countries	United States[4] Australia[4]
Language	English
Budget	$80 million[5]
Box office	$140.1 million[6]

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is a 2010 animated fantasy adventure film directed by Zack Snyder. Based on the Guardians of Ga'Hoole book series by Kathryn Lasky, the film was written by John Orloff and Emil Stern and features the voices of Helen Mirren, Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, Ryan Kwanten, Anthony LaPaglia, Miriam Margolyes, Sam Neill, Richard Roxburgh, and David Wenham. An international co-production between the United States and Australia, the film was produced by Village Roadshow Pictures and Animal Logic, following their success with the 2006 film Happy Feet. In the film, Soren (Sturgess), a barn owl, is kidnapped and taken to St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls led by Metal Beak (Joel Edgerton) and Nyra (Mirren), where owlets are brainwashed into becoming soldiers. He befriends a fellow owl named Gylfie (Barclay), and they later escape the facility to find the Island of Ga'Hoole with new-found friends and together fight against the evil army.

Legend of the Guardians was theatrically released in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D in North America on September 24, 2010, and in Australia on September 30, 2010, by Warner Bros. Pictures; it was accompanied by a new 3D Looney Tunes cartoon entitled Fur of Flying. The film grossed over $140 million worldwide against a budget of $80 million. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its dark tone, animation, and voice performances, but criticized its changes made to the source material.