Cinematical

In case you haven't noticed, 3-D movies are officially back, and we're about to see a whole lot of them in the next few years. But it's no longer just Hollywood that's producing new films in the format. Spain is also getting in on the fun with a 3-D family film titled The Magic Tale, which tells the story of a young girl's "magical journey" to Africa. Catalan journalist and filmmaker Jordi Llompart (the IMAX film Mystery of the Nile) has adapted his own children's book, "El Corazón Sobre La Arena," which was dedicated to his daughter, Jana, who died in Africa in 2005.

The movie began shooting in March in Namibia and South Africa and will resume next month in Barcelona. Variety reports that Spanish actress Leonor Watling (Talk to Her) has just joined the cast as a fairy who teaches the young girl (Eva Gerretsen), "the secrets of the heart." The rest of the cast includes Namibian child actor Raymond Mvula, South African actor John Whiteley (Duma), Spanish actor Adrià Collado (Evita) and Spanish supermodel Verónica Blume. The latter two play the girl's parents.

Though Variety notes the film will come out in 2009, there doesn't appear to be an American distributor in place. But hopefully that will chance, because the film seems universally family-friendly enough to do well in the U.S. According to a press release reprinted on Big Movie Zone, The Magic Tale is comparable to The Little Prince and Alice in Wonderland, as Jana rides a winged horse and meets a number of magical characters, including the fairy to be played by Watling. For more on the production, including a behind-the-scenes video blog, visit the film's website.