WOODWALKERS Trailer (2024) Martina Gedeck

WOODWALKERS Trailer (2024) Martina Gedeck

WOODWALKERS Trailer (2024) Martina Gedeck
© 2025 - StudioCanal

Woodwalkers
Year
2024
Country
Germany Germany
Director
Damian John Harper
Screenwriter
David Sandreuter
Cast
Music
Anne Kathrin Dern
Producer
Co-production Germany-Austria; Blue Eyes Fiction. Distributor: StudioCanal Germany
Genre
Fantasy. Adventure | Animals. Werewolf
Synopsis
At first glance, Carag looks like a normal boy, but behind his glowing eyes lies an incredible secret: Carag is a shapeshifter. He grew up in the wild as a mountain lion and now lives in the human world in his cub form. It's only when Carag is accepted into Clearwater High, a secret boarding school for Woodwalkers like him, that he feels a sense of home. He finds friends in Holly, a cheeky red squirrel, and Brandon, a shy bison. And Carag can really use that – because the world of the Woodwalkers is full of puzzles and dangers…
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Plot: What's the story about?
Carag is not a typical 13-year-old: he can shapeshift into a puma. He is a Woodwalker, and like all of his kind he must conceal his true nature. At a secret school for young shapeshifters, he is mentored by Andrew Milling, a millionaire benefactor who quickly sees Carag’s extraordinary potential. Alongside new friends Brandon (a shy bison-shifter) and Holly (a cheeky red squirrel-shifter), Carag starts to control his powers, and for the first time he feels a sense of belonging. But his new-found contentment is disrupted when a mining operation threatens to destroy the Woodwalkers’ environment and their community. This threat soon leads to mysterious attacks on humans. As the situation escalates, Carag and his friends must distinguish allies from enemies to save their unique Woodwalker world, and to protect innocent humans.

Family Fantasy

Poll: Will you see Woodwalkers?

Who stars in Woodwalkers: Cast List

Emile Chérif

Johannes Degen

Lilli Falk

Martina Gedeck

Night Train to Lisbon, The Wall

Hannah Herzsprung

Oliver Masucci

Chess Story, Day Shift

Who's making Woodwalkers: Crew List

A look at the Woodwalkers behind-the-scenes crew and production team.

Director
Damian John Harper
Screenwriters
—

Company
StudioCanal

Production Companies
blue eyes Fiction has released a soundtrack album for the German/Austrian fantasy adventure Woodwalkers. The album features the film’s original music composed by Anne-Kathrin Dern (Fearless, The Devil Conspiracy, The Jade Pendant, The Legend of the War Horse, The Claus Family). The soundtrack is now available to stream/download on Amazon and most other major digital music services. Woodwalkers is directed by Damian John Harper and stars Emile Cherif, Oliver Masucci, Martina Gedeck, Hannah Herzsprung, Lilli Falk, Johan von Ehrlich, Sophie Lelenta, Olivia Sinclair and Emil Bloch. The movie is based on Katja Brandis’ best-selling series and tells the story of a 13-year shapeshifter who grew up in the wilderness as a puma and now lives in his human form in the world of people. The first part in a planned trilogy opened in German theaters last weekend. No word yet on a domestic release.

Here’s the track list of the album:

1. Woodwalkers (1:11)
2. Last Night (2:57)
3. Meeting Ms. Clearwater (2:00)
4. Andrew Milling (2:31)
5. First Lesson (1:47)
6. Carag (2:29)
7. Brandon (0:59)
8. Holly (1:50)
9. Following the Wolves (2:42)
10. Mentor (3:14)
11. Run Free (1:44)
12. The Secret Council (1:30)
13. Helping Brandon (2:18)
14. Adopted Family (1:35)
15. Mountain Top (1:50)
16. Making New Friends (1:51)
17. Lou (2:28)
18. Milling’s Tragedy (5:21)
19. Day of Reckoning (4:39)
20. Moment of Truth (7:40)
21. They’re Not Just Humans (3:15)
22. Parting Ways (1:36)
23. A New Adventure Begins (2:11)
Studiocanal has been rolling out sales on the first instalment of Germany-language film trilogy Woodwalkers in Cannes.

A joint production between Blue Eyes Fiction and Studiocanal Germany, it is one the most ambitious German-language productions to date for both partners.

The franchise is adapted from the best-selling novels by German writer Katja Brandis about a group of teenagers with secret shapeshifting abilities, known as ‘Woodwalkers’.

Blue Eyes Fiction MD and founder Corinna Mehner is lead producing, with Berlin-based Studiocanal exec Sandrine Mattes, EVP German Production & Acquisition, spearheading her company’s involvement.

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Mattes says the Woodwalkers ticks a number of boxes for Studiocanal.

“Studiocanal’s DNA is truly European so we’re always looking for European content that can work on the global market. The ‘Woodwalkers’ books are a perfect fit. They’re one of the biggest IPs we have for family and kids in the German market, both in terms of book sales and fanbase,” she says.

“They’re also published in a number of countries and other territories are coming. We really feel we can achieve a local hit and build an international brand strategy around these films.”

Newcomer Emile Cherif plays 13-year-old protagonist Carag, who is able to shape-shift into a puma and has recently arrived at a secret school for Woodwalkers, sponsored by a wealthy benefactor.

Carag quickly settles in and befriends Brandon (a bison-shifter) and Holly (a red squirrel-shifter) and for the first time in his life feels a sense of belonging.

When a mining operation threatens to destroy the Woodwalkers environment, at the same time as a series of mysterious attacks on humans, Carag and his friends put their powers to use.

Budgeted at around €15M ($16.3M) per instalment, Woodwalkers marks a step-change for Munich-based Blue Eyes Fiction, which previously enjoyed success with family entertainment hits such as Lily The Witch: The Journey To Mandolan and the Help, I Shrunk My Teacher franchise.

“I don’t think any other project was shot in German over the past year with as high a budget,” says Mehner.

The producer, who launched Blue Eyes Fiction in 2003, says Woodwalkers marks a natural progression for the company.

“We’re known for making European-financed, family entertainment movies and our speciality is live action movies with a lot of VFX and/or animation,” says the producer, who believes this know-how helped her secure the rights in the face of fierce competition.

Writer Brandis was a nature journalist prior to focusing on fiction and took inspiration from real animals for her characters. The big challenge, says Mehner, was staying true to this vision.

“The idea came from real animals, so we work with real animals as much as we can. It’s a complex production, mixing digital animals with footage of real animals… we shot nearly 40 days with the actors, and 24 days, only with the animals,” says Mehner, revealing that 25 different types of wild animal appear in the film.

International VFX company Pixomondo, which launched in Germany at around the same time as Blue Eyes Fiction and has collaborated on most of its features, is taking the VFX lead, with House of the Dragon VFX superviser Sven Martin overseeing the work.

Mattes, who also had her eye on the ‘Woodwalkers; novels, boarded the project after a face-to-face meeting with Mehner after the latter had secured the rights.

“We had looked at the book series but it seemed very complicated to pull… I’m so happy that this brand is in Corinna’s hands. I think she is the only one who could pull it off in Germany,” she says.

“We’ve worked on it together since the first teaser trailer, making the creative decisions together around how to transform this magical world of shapeshifters into film.”

Cherif is joined in the cast by established names Oliver Masucci (Fantastic Beasts, Dark, Enfant Terrible), Martina Gedeck (Mostly Martha, The Lives Of Others) and Hannah Herzsprung (Babylon Berlin) as well as emerging actress Lilli Falk (The Zone of Interest) and a host of young newcomers.

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Alongside working with established casting agencies, the production also held an open online casting call for younger members of the cast, which generated 20,000 videos and applications from youngsters across Germany.

“Some of the cast members are talents that we found in this casting. They haven’t done anything before but are natural talents,” says Mattes.

The partners admit there was debate on whether to go the German-language or English-language route.

“We could have done an international production but it would have meant other actors and a much bigger budget… but we felt it’s a German IP and decided it would make more sense to move quickly and bring it first to German speaking audiences,” says Mattes.

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Studiocanal will theatrically release the first film in the trilogy in Germany on October 24. Pre-production is already underway for the second instalment, which will begin filming at the end of July.

“We have started work on the second one before the release of the first because we really believe in the huge potential of this franchise,” says Mattes.
Humans who can shapeshift into animals struggle to integrate with others without giving away their special abilities. As a group, they strive to inform and institute change in the world perspective of deforestation and the importance of natural habitats. However, when that can’t happen, they are forced to take matters into their own hands.

Cast
Crew
Details
Genres
Releases
Cast
Emile Chérif Lilli Falk Johan von Ehrlich Sophie Lelenta Oliver Masucci Martina Gedeck Hannah Herzsprung Olivia Sinclair Emil Bloch David Wurawa Anton Noori Lucas Gregorowicz Eugen Bauder Lukas Spisser Luna Arwen Krüger Lewe Wagner Tamino Beba Samibah Straits Laurin Hong Colin Ahlemeyer Finlay Hartinger Viv Lee Thomas Johannes Degen Marem Lo Birla Thüring Tilda Schmidt-Schaller Cem Öztabakci
WOODWALKERS
by Damian John Harper

synopsis

Carag, a shapeshifting puma raised in the wild, joins Clearwater High, a school for Woodwalkers. With friends Holly (squirrel) and Brandon (bison), he navigates mysteries and dangers of the Woodwalker world.

international title: Woodwalkers
original title: Woodwalkers
country: Germany
year: 2024
genre: fiction
directed by: Damian John Harper
film run: 103'
release date: DE 24/10/2024, AT 24/10/2024, CH 24/10/2024
screenplay: David Sandreuter
cast: Emile Chérif, Johan von Ehrlich, Lilli Falk, Sophie Lelenta, Emil Bloch, Olivia Sinclair, Oliver Masucci, Martina Gedeck, Hannah Herzsprung, Lucas Gregorowicz
cinematography by: Peter Krause
film editing: Stefan Essl
art director: Maximilian Lange
music: Anne Kathrin Dern
producer: Carolin Dassel, Sandrine Mattes, Corinna Mehner
production: Blue Eyes Fiction, StudioCanal Produktion
distributor: StudioCanal Germany, Constantin Film Verleih, Filmcoopi