Animated Movie ‘The Amazing Maurice’ Sells to Multiple Major Territories (EXCLUSIVE)

Manori Ravindran International EditorCanada’s Blue Ant International has made one of its most ambitious acquisitions to date, taking 100% ownership of U.K.-based distributor Drive Media Rights, Variety can reveal.The deal comes as the distribution arm of Toronto-headquartered Blue Ant Media continues to grow in the U.K. and form new creative relationships, while expanding its pre-sales capacity — a crucial engine for growth among TV distributors looking to get in earlier on projects.Drive Media Rights is a well-respected financing, co-production and sales business set up in 2013 by Ben Barrett and Lilla Hurst.

Controversy is erupting around Tonka, an elderly chimpanzee who appeared alongside Brendon Fraser in   “George of the Jungle” and co-starred with Alan Cumming in the 1997 film “Buddy”.

EXCLUSIVE: Ellen Wander’s Film Bridge International has sold shark survival thriller Maneater to a host of buyers during the Cannes market including Saban Films (North America, UK, Australia/NZ, Scandinavia and South Africa), Challan Films (Korea), Superfine Films (India), YouPlanet (Spain), ILY Films (France), Monolith (Poland), Suraya Filem (SE Asia), Blitz Film Group (Ex-Yugo), and Selim Ramia and Co. (Middle East).

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentREinvent International Sales has closed on several deals Alex Herron’s English-language horror thriller “Dark Windows” after unveiling the movie’s first footage at Cannes. “Dark Windows” is being sold as part of REinvent Chills’ label for genre films. The story is about four teenagers who were involved in a car crash and decide to stay at a summerhouse in the countryside to work through their grief.

Amazon Prime Video today has struck an exclusive, multi-film licensing deal with the Housefull franchise producer Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment. The deal will see Bollywood movies from Sajid Nadiadwala’s company made available worldwide, with Amazon becoming the home to NGE’s upcoming movies, soon after their theatrical launch.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“Plan 75,” Hayakawa Chie’s Japanese dystopian drama which world premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, has been sold in a raft of territories by Urban Sales. The movie is set in Japan, in a near future where a government program called Plan 75 encourages senior citizens to be voluntarily euthanized in order to remedy the aging society. The film weaves the stories of an elderly woman who isn’t able to live independently, a pragmatic Plan 75 salesman and a young Filipino caregiver.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“The Three Musketeers,” Pathé Films’s $75-million two-part adventure epic saga based on Alexandre Dumas’s masterpiece, has been bought in major international territories rolling off a busy Cannes market. Pathé unveiled a sprawling 15-minute promoreel for both “The Three Musketeers” – D’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers – Milady” at Cannes Marché du Film. Both movies are directed by Martin Bourboulon and boast a star-studded cast, including Vincent Cassel, Eva Green, Vicky Krieps, Romain Duris, Pio Marmaï, François Civil, Lyna Khoudri and Louis Garrel.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentPulsar Content has closed a raft of major deals on “La Maison,” Anissa Bonnefont’s erotic drama based on Emma Becker’s controversial bestselling novel chronicling the young author’s two-year undercover experience working as a sex worker at a Berlin brothel. The Paris-based company introduced the title to buyers at Cannes and sold it to Wild Bunch for Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain, among other deals. Wild Bunch will team with Capelight for the German release.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“CODA” producer Philippe Rousselet’s next movie “Maestro” has been sold to major territories by Orange Studio which hosted a market screening at Cannes. “Maestro” is adapted from Joseph Cesar’s Oscar-nominated, Cannes-prizewinning Israeli film “Footnote.” The movie is directed by Bruno Chiche and stars Yvan Attal, Pierre Arditi, Miou-Miou and Pascale Arbillot.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Nexo Digital, which produces and distributes theatrical event content for the global market, has scored sales in Cannes on doc “Portrait of the Queen,” about Queen Elizabeth II, by Italian fashion photographer Fabrizio Ferri.By Experience, which handles theatrical events for New York’s Metropolitan Opera and London’s National Theater, has acquired theatrical distribution for the U.S., while other pacts include Sharmill Distribution for Australia; A Contracorriente for Spain; Pannonia for Hungary; and Aero Films for the Czech Republic.“Portrait of the Queen” features photographs and fragments of the queen’s biography, with each portrait presented as a piece of a mosaic; Charles Dance (“The Crown”) narrates  from the diaries of several famous photographers who worked with the queen. There are also conversations with Isabella Rossellini, described as one of the most photographed women in the world, and others that give viewers a more private, intimate reflection on the role, obligations and complexities of being a monarch.The doc is based on Italian writer Paola Calvetti’s book “Elizabeth II.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentGaumont has locked major territory deals on “Father & Soldier,” Mathieu Vadepied’s WWI action-drama about headlined by “Lupin” star Omar Sy. The movie world premiered on opening night of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.

The new NCAA Name, Image, Likeness rule (NIL) that allows college athletes to monetize themselves could be at a crossroads. Top college receiver Jordan Addison is transferring from Pittsburgh to the University of Southen California amid rumors of massive booster blandishments.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentOne of the hottest European projects on sale at Cannes, “The Pot Au Feu,” Tran Anh Hung’s period romance starring Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel has already been nabbed by major international distributors. Gaumont is handling sales on the movie.The movie, which is currently shooting in a French castle, is set in the world of French gastronomy in 1885 and charts the relationship between Eugenie, an esteemed cook, and Dodin, the gourmet she has been working for over the last 20 years.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorBeta Cinema has sold the English-language tragicomedy “My Neighbor Adolf” to several major territories. The film stars German actor Udo Kier and Scottish actor David Hayman, and is directed by Israel’s Leon Prudovsky.All rights for North America have gone to Cohen Media Group, Signature Entertainment has acquired the U.K./Ireland rights, I Wonder took Italy, Lumix Media has South Korea and Tohokushinsha Film took Japan.The film, set in 1960, centers on Polsky, a Holocaust survivor, who lives in the remote Colombian countryside.

Lionsgate will be the key tenant with naming rights to a major new studio project in Newark, New Jersey being built being by Robert Halmi and Fehmi Zeko’s Great Point Studios.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix has quietly been getting member feedback on original content — ahead of its public release — for about a year.Since May 2021, the streamer has been reaching out to small groups of subscribers with a proposition: The company is inviting them to participate in a panel to provide feedback on Netflix’s upcoming movies and TV shows before they’re released publicly.“We at Netflix are building a community of members to view and give feedback on upcoming movies and series, and we’d like to know if you’re interested in being a part of it,” according to a recent email sent to a group of subscribers, a copy of which was obtained by Variety. “It’s simple, but an incredibly important part of creating best-in-class content for you and Netflix members all around the world.” Netflix confirmed that it has been running the subscriber-feedback panels, which have taken place only in the U.S.Such focus-group testing is commonplace in Hollywood and has been for years.

Netflix’s Heartstoppers breakout Yasmin Finney is to play Rose in the next Doctor Who as the show continues to drip-feed cast for Russell T Davies’ 14th season.

Fox will continue to build its Bento Box Entertainment portfolio with three animated movies exclusive to Tubi, its ad-supported streaming service.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorBerlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has closed sales on Berlin Panorama title “Concerned Citizen” – Idan Haguel’s satirical feature on privilege and prejudice set in Tel Aviv – for several additional territories.Distribution in the U.K. and Ireland will be handled by Peccadillo Pictures; Arti Film will be distributing the film in Benelux, with a nationwide theatrical release at selected cinemas planned later in the year; Tongariro Releasing has taken the rights for Poland, planning a festival run and theatrical release in arthouse cinemas for summer 2022; and Queer Kino has come on board to handle the film in the Czech Republic, where it will have a national premiere at Mezipatra Queer Film Festival and a theatrical release is planned for early 2023.