VARIETY – Zayn Malik is writing new music for upcoming animated feature “10 Lives” and is set to perform a duet with “Bridgerton” star Simone Ashley for the film, Variety can confirm.

Malik and Ashley also both star in the film, with the former One Direction singer playing tough-guy twins Cameron and Kirk while Ashley voices student Rose. Malik, who is currently working on his next studio album with Mercury Records, is also an executive music producer on “10 Lives,” overseeing the film’s musical creative direction.

Directed by Chris Jenkins (“Surf’s Up”), “10 Lives” tells the story of a pampered and selfish cat who takes his many lives for granted. After carelessly losing his ninth live he begs for a second chance — and an opportunity to prove he can learn from his mistakes. When his wish is finally granted, however, he learns that it comes with some caveats.

Also lending their voices to the film are Bill Nighy, Mo Gilligan, Sophie Okonedo, Dylan Llewellyn and Jeremy Swift.

“I always enjoy my time in the studio creating from my perspective,” said Malik. “While creating music for ’10 Lives,’ I was able to immerse myself in a narrative that I hadn’t dictated and able to bring the characters’ emotions into the music rather than my own. I really enjoyed writing specifically to bring them all to life. It’s a film that’s not only fun to watch but has a very beautiful sentiment for people of all ages. I hope people love it, and the music we created really connects and transports them deeper into the ’10 Lives’ world.”

Guy Collins and Sean Feeney produce for 10 Lives Prods. alongside Martin Metz and Adrian Politowski for Align, Yann Zenou for Quad, Valérie d’Auteuil and André Rouleau for Caramel Films and Louis-Philippe Vermette for the Happy Producers. Robyn Klein and Jeremy Ross cast the project while the animation was produced by L’Atelier Animation in Montreal.

“10 Lives,” which will screen for distributors at AFM, is a GFM Animation production; GFM is also handling international sales. WME Independent is repping domestic rights.

Casting directors and music supervisors Robyn Klein and Jeremy Ross said: “We always love bringing the worlds of film and music together and could not be more excited that we got to do this with Zayn on ‘10 Lives.’ A great film and a great song come from the same place. Combining his songwriting, acting and vocal skills, Zayn brought joy, emotion, and depth to the film while connecting and highlighting all of its important themes. This is Zayn at his absolute best.”

Malik is repped by Nicola Carson of Zen Kai Management and Taryn Zimmerman. Ashley is repped by Creative Artists Agency, Identity Agency Group, R&CPMK and Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light.