Historic comic franchise to receive feature film treatment.

Paws Inc., licensor of the Garfield property and associated characters, has partnered with Alcon Entertainment to produce an animated movie based on the classic comic strip.

In addition to the movie, Alcon plans to build a franchise of fully animated Garfield feature films.

John Cohen, producer of Despicable Me and The Angry Birds Movie brought the project to Alcon and will produce the film alongside Steve Wegner and Alcon co-founders and co-chief executive officers Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove. Meanwhile, Jim Davis, the comic series and brand creator, will serve as an executive producer with Bridget McMeel.

“I’ve been so impressed with the quality of animation and storytelling coming out of Hollywood of late,” says Davis. “I can’t wait to get into production with the terrific team Alcon has assembled.”

Garfield originally debuted in June 1978 and follows the cynical and lazy orange cat and his interactions with his owner, Jon Arbuckle, and fellow pet, Odie. The comic now appears in 2,580 newspapers and journals, with an estimated readership of 260 million. Garfield currently holds the record for being the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world.