Paws on, paws off! Samuel L. Jackson voices a samurai cat teacher in the official trailer for Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. In the new animated movie (previously titled Blazing Samurai), the Pulp Fiction and Avengers star voices Jimbo, the cynical and reluctant sensei to bumbling underdog Hank (voice of Superbad‘s Michael Cera). It’s training cats and dogs as their kung fu feud gets even more furry-ous in the Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies pic, featuring executive producer Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles) as Shogun. Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank is playing only in theaters July 15.
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In Paws of Fury, hard-on-his-luck hound Hank (Cera) finds himself in a town full of cats who need a hero to defend them from a ruthless villain’s (The Office‘s Ricky Gervais) evil plot to wipe their village off the map. With help from a reluctant teacher (Jackson) to train him, our underdog must assume the role of town samurai and team up with the villagers to save the day.
Jackson’s Jimbo is described by Deadline as “a cat who once was a great warrior who now lives life hitting the cat-nip a bit too hard. Despite his addled state, he reluctantly takes lovable mutt Hank under his wing and teaches him the cunning, courageous and warrior-like ways of the samurai. Forging an unusual friendship between a cat and a dog, the two set off on a wild and hilarious journey to save the town of Kakamucho whilst at the same time learning what it means to be a true, great samurai.”
The animated action-comedy also stars George Takei (Star Trek), Aasif Mandvi (The Last Airbender), Gabriel Iglesias (Space Jam: A New Legacy), Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy), Michelle Yeoh (Star Trek: Discovery), Cathy Shim (Reno 911!), and Kylie Kuioka (Better Nate Than Never).
Rob Minkoff (Disney’s The Lion King, Stuart Little) directs with Mark Koetsier (story artist, Disney’s Big Hero 6, Illumination’s The Grinch) and Chris Bailey (Kim Possible). Ed Stone (Happy, Texas) and Nate Hopper (Siren) wrote the Blazing Saddles homage produced by Brooks’ Brooksfilms, Aniventure (Gnome Alone), Minkoff’s Flying Tigers Entertainment, GFM Animation (10 Lives), Cinesite (The Addams Family), Huayi Tencent Entertainment (Rock Dog), and distributed by Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies (PAW Patrol: The Movie, SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge on the Run).
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank is playing exclusively in movie theaters on July 15.