Hugh Grant to voice Aardman's 'Pirates'

Hugh Grant will voice the lead role in Aardman's new stop-motion animation film The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists.

The project, which marks the first time Grant has worked on an animated movie, will also feature the vocal talents of Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek, Brian Blessed, Brendan Gleeson and Ashley Jensen.

The Pirates centres on Grant's Pirate Captain as he embarks on a mission to beat his rivals Black Bellamy (Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Hayek) to the heralded Pirate of the Year Award. His adventure also brings him into contact with Queen Victoria (Staunton) and a young Charles Darwin (former Doctor Who star Tennant).

Director Peter Lord said of the film: "I'm so grateful to the entire cast for their talent and energy. The characters that they've created fill the screen with life and fun. As the Pirate Captain, Hugh Grant has given a standout performance - he combines an effortless on-screen warmth with brilliant comic timing.

"And as the leader of our motley pirate crew, he shows a real barnstorming, swashbuckling side of his character as well. Only Hugh could anchor this story of love, loyalty, greed, and nautical high-jinks."

Aardman has previously produced Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Flushed Away for the big screen.

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, which Aardman is co-producing with Sony Pictures Animation, will be released in the UK on March 30, 2012.

See Hugh Grant as the Pirate Captain in the image below: