The first trailer for Baahubali: The Eternal War Part 1 has dropped, and it's epic! The teaser is exciting not only fans of India's most successful film franchise. Followers of Netflix's steampunk action-adventure series Arcane think the striking animation style looks familiar, and that makes sense given the team behind the project.
Set in the aftermath of the original live-action Baahubali movie, the animated feature looks set to translate the vast scale of the franchise into a new medium, with dramatic action scenes rendered in vibrant 2D meets 3D animation. It could also be the movie that takes Indian animation global, reshaping cinematic animation in the process.
The two-part animated Baahubali movie is being made by India's Arka Productions with a team of international partners. It's directed by Ishan Shukla, who worked on Star Wars: Visions – The Bandits of Golak and written by Scott Mosie.
The animation work brings together Mihira Visual Labs in India, Aniventure and Zaratan in the UK and Alcyde in France. The latter is overseeing visual development, including storyboarding, previsualisation and character design under Antoine Charreyron, with production designer Florent Auguy and CG supervisor Dorian Marchesin.
Alcyde could be the reason why people are getting Arcane vibes, since the studio unites several artists who worked on Netflix's hit series. Marvel's Spider-Verse also comes to mind as a likely inspiration, but the movie looks to have a strong, almost painterly identity of its own too.
The teaser was first shown in the theatrical re-release of the recut Baahubali: The Epic, which combines the two original films. The reaction was wild, with leaks recorded on mobile phones spreading on social media platforms.
Now the trailer has officially been released, many animation fans say they're blown away by the quality. People are particularly impressed by the transition from live action to animation.
Mainstream western animated movies have been going through a bit of a rocky patch. Sequels like Pixar's Inside Out 2 have done well, but new IPs like Elio and Disney's Wish have flopped.
At the same time, Netflix and Sony have been taken by surprise by the massive success of KPop Demon Hunters, showing that there's clearly a demand for animation made with an older audience in mind, and yet Sony apparently isn't convinced that Genndy Tartakovsky's The Black Knight is worth making.
Over on Reddit, the international character of the credits has led some to question whether it can be considered an Indian production, but the movie's global outlook could make it an international breakthrough that repeats phenomenon of the live-action Baahubali movies the opens the door for more Indian animation.
What is Baahubali?
Baahubali, which means the One with Strong Arms in Telugu, is an epic Indian action media franchise created by S. S. Rajamouli. It started with a two-part live-action film series directed by Rajamouli himself – Baahubali: The Beginning in 2015 and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion in 2017.
The story involves Sivudu, a young warrior, discovering his royal heritage and seeking to overthrow the tyrannical King Bhallaladeva in the kingdom of Mahishmati. The films were followed by two animated series, a graphic novel and a trilogy of novels in English.
Baahubali: The Eternal War will be a two-part animated film series set after the events of the original live-action movie. Amarendra Baahubali finds himself in a cosmic conflict between devas and asuras as he seeks to restore balance across fourteen realms of existence.
Actors from the original movie will voice the main characters, with Prabha as Baahubali and Ramya Krishna as Sivagami Devi. The first part is slated for a 2027 release.
Inspired? See our picks of the best animation software and the best laptops for animation.
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