Of all the fantasy films 2024 is Woodwalkers probably the most exciting project from Germany. It is intended to be a film adaptation of Katja Brandis’ bestseller series announced trilogy bring the phenomenon of the original to the screen, which has a firm grip on the local children’s book scene. We introduce you to the fantasy hit Woodwalkers in more detail.
Great German fantasy: Woodwalkers starts a trilogy in the cinema
The fantasy adventure Woodwalkers starts on October 24, 2024 in German cinemas and has already released the first short teaser trailer.
The main character of the film is the young Carag (Emile Chérif), who is a “shifter”. That means he has two figures: that of the human cub and that of a puma. In order to get a better handle on his abilities, he is invited to Principal Clearwater’s (Martina Gedeck) school in the American Rocky Mountains: Clearwater High.
Studio Channel
Woodwalkers: Bison shifter Brandon
By boarding school Carag meets other shapeshifters who can transform into bears, wolves, red squirrels, bison, waipitis and more. Here he becomes friends with Holly (Lilli Falk) and Brandon (Johan von Ehrlich), but also finds enemies like classmate Jeffrey (Emil Bloch). A mysterious mentor, the rich Andrew Milling (Oliver Masucci), also appears on the scene.
With Woodwalkers 2 (for 2025) and Woodwalkers 3 (for 2026) are Two sequels were already being planned before the first cinema releasewhich show how much confidence the production company blue eyes Fiction and the distributor Studiocanal have in the success of the fantasy series.
The German Harry Potter? The Woodwalkers phenomenon explained
If success could be easily explained, everyone would copy it. Katja Brandis obviously hit a nerve with her children’s books and so her series includes now almost 20 books, which regularly occupy top positions on the Spiegel bestseller lists. The instantly recognizable covers can be found in every bookstore and immediately arouse curiosity: They always show a child’s face – half human, half animal – and thus summarize the series at a glance.
Studio Channel
Woodwalkers: Carag & Lou
The Similarities with Harry Potter are numerous in Woodwalkers: We have a fantasy story with a good dose of (transformation) magic, a magical school and a trio of friends at the center. With Jeffrey, Carag even has his own Malfoy and there are also favorites and hate figures among the teaching staff. There’s also a big villain in the background.
Despite these parallels, the Woodwalkers novels were also able to convince their audience on their own merits. The author serves me her mixture animals and magic exactly the topics that have had a great appeal to children for generations (such as in the series The School of Magical Animals). That’s why the writer already revealed on her website that the film adaptation will be made with real animals.
Brandi’s stories are exciting without being too demanding or complicated for younger readers. And although the author is German, she relocated her story to a much more exotic setting than her homeland, namely the American wilderness the Rocky Mountains: the US state of Wyoming near Yellowstone National Park.
The Novel Overview: The Woodwalkers universe began with the books
Before the three films, adaptations of Woodwalkers were already made radio play and Play. In addition, the franchise grows with you Merchandise-Articles such as board games, puzzles and calendars.
The fantasy story has its origins in… books by author Katja Brandis, which we want to give you an overview of here. The almost 20 volumes have been so far translated into 22 languages and according to Blickpunkt:Film alone in Germany 2.4 million copies sold. There is still no end in sight to the literary world of Woodwalkers.
Arena Publishing
Woodwalkers: Books 1-3
The Woodwalkers books expose themselves several seasons, i.e. self-contained story cycles. The first season, now being adapted with the film trilogy, focuses on the cougar shifter Carag and his friends. It comprises 6 volumes:
In addition, the 2nd season called Woodwalkers – The Return *, which currently comprises four volumes. In addition to the three additional books Woodwalkers and Friends * Katja Brandis also wrote the six volumes of the Woodwalkers spin-off from 2019 to 2022 Seawalkers *, after the shapeshifters on land, to also focus on the transformable sea creatures.
When it comes to filming, the Woodwalkers trilogy will of course make some changes, such as omitting the student exchange to Costa Rica in Volume 4 (for cost reasons). But with the three films, the German fantasy phenomenon will certainly continue to grow.
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