Kinology Boards Buzzy Animated Musical ‘Ogresse’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Brent Lang Executive Editor “The Tomorrow War” and “The Lego Batman Movie” filmmaker Chris McKay has been tapped to direct an adaptation of Brynne Weaver’s bestselling serial killer romance, “Butcher & Blackbird,” for Lyrical Media and Ryder Picture Company (RPC). The novel isthe first installment of Weaver’s popular “Ruinous Love” trilogy, which was released in October. It became a New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weeklybestseller and was a favorite on BookTok, TikTok’s hub for book lovers.

Marta Balaga Paris-based sales and production company Totem has boarded “Quasi a Casa,” directed by Carolina Pavone.The film is produced by Marta Donzelli and Gregorio Paonessa for Vivo Film, and by Palme d’Or winner Nanni Moretti for Sacher Film. Fandango – behind festival favorites “Orlando, My Political Biography” and “The Survival of Kindness” – will handle Italian distribution.Described as a “pop drama,” it follows Caterina.

K.J. Yossman Happy Accidents has set up a second North American office. The international film and TV studio has also appointed Courtney Colman as its chief financial officer.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is now available to stream internationally.The first part of the stage production ran in Japan from January to February 2020, with the second part returning in August 2021, and is now available to watch in international territories around the world.As of June 21, viewers in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa can watch on Crunchyroll.An official synopsis for the adaptation reads: “One day in Japan during the Taisho era, Tanjiro, a kind young man who sells coal, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. Worse yet, the only survivor, his younger sister Nezuko, is turned into a demon.“Despite his hopeless situation, Tanjiro makes up his mind to become a Demon Slayer in order to turn his sister back into a human and slay the demon who killed his family.

Emiliano De Pablos Germany’s Pixable Studios has boarded coming of age “Finisterra,” one of the TV series projects which Portuguese outfit Take It Easy is promoting at this year’s Conecta Fiction & Entertainment edition. Lisbon-based Take It Easy produced Oscar-shortlisted LGBTQ+ live action short “An Avocado Pit,” executive produced by Elliot Page. “Finisterra” has just entered into post-production and will be ready for delivery by January.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Flow,” a director-driven animated feature which world premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and just swept three awards at Annecy Film Festival, has been embraced by a raft of major distributors in key territories, including the U.K., Japan, South Korea, Germany, Spain and Italy. The movie is represented internationally by Charades.

Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera and Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon are among the entertainment figures included in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours list.Manzanera was the lead guitarist and producer for the legendary art rock group, playing on all eight of their studio albums, released between 1972 and 1982. He has been awarded an OBE for Services to Music.In response to the honour, Manzanera has said: “I’m surprised and honoured to receive this Award.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed further deals for Ray Yeung’s “All Shall Be Well,”following the North American deal with Strand Releasing and the first international sales previously announced by Variety.The film has been acquired by Nour Films in France, One From the Heart in Greece, Mezipatra in Czech Republic and Slovakia, HBO Europe in Eastern Europe, Beta Film in Bulgaria and Falcon in Indonesia, in addition to the already announced deals with Vedette in the Benelux, Karma in Spain, Trigon in Switzerland and Lev in Israel.Films Boutique is in negotiations with potential buyers in the U.K., Latin America, Germany and Japan.Additionally, New Voice Film Productions Ltd. secured distribution deals with Golden Scene for Hong Kong and Macau and Flash Forward Entertainment in Taiwan.“All Shall Be Well” is written and directed by Yeung and was produced by Yeung’s frequent collaborator Michael J.

Ben Croll In a sign of Folivari’s widening ambitions, the French animation powerhouse will handle world sales of the Sherlock Holmes spinoff “The Baker Street Four” through its newly launched distribution branch Folivari International. Adapted from a local comic book series that pairs Arthur Conan Doyle’s great detective with four streetwise urchins, the title was developed in-house, with Folivari and Blue Spirit (“Blue Eye Samurai”) tackling creative duties and Canal+ set as commissioning broadcaster.

Jamie Lang Pyramide Films will handle sales of the stop-motion animated feature film “Olivia and The Invisible Earthquake,” Variety has learned. Based on Maite Carranza’s children’s novel “The Movie Of Life,” — which has sold more than 24,000 copies in Spain — the film focuses on 12-year-old Olivia. She sees her life collapse when her family is evicted from their home.

Ben Croll French animation outfit Blue Spirit (the studio behind Netflix sensation “Blue Eye Samurai”) will introduced an in-house digital creation and development label under the moniker Blue Spirit Creative. Offering full-service creative and graphic development for features, series, ads and games, the creative label will be run by the Paris-based team behind Digital Banana, which Blue Spirit acquired last year. “We can now offer a one-stop-shop,” says Blue Spirit CEO Olivier Lelardoux.

Naman Ramachandran London and New York-based film sales agency The Mise En Scene Company (MSC) has diversified, securing world rights to scripted series “Driven.” The show stars Rebecca Henderson, known for her roles in “Star Wars: The Acolyte” (Disney) and “Russian Doll” (Netflix), and Liza Colón-Zayas from “The Bear” (FX). Produced by O Positive Films in New York and created by David Shane, represented by 3 Arts Entertainment, “Driven” centers on Theodora “Teddy” Fischer (Henderson), an Uber driver and struggling post-post-modern novelist. Teddy’s life hits rock bottom after getting fired from an animated children’s show for a controversial episode and dealing with her wife’s departure.

Animated movies about robots are always good. You’re talking about major films like “Wall-E” and “The Iron Giant.” Those are classics.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mediawan Kids & Family is unveiling a raft of prestige animated feature projects at the Annecy Film Festival, including “Meow-woof” by Louis Clichy (“Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion”) and “Twisted” by Lino DiSalvo (“Playmobil”). Emmanuel Jacomet, who worked for over a decade alongside Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam on high profile IP’s such as “The Little Prince,” “Miraculous Ladybug” and “Playmobil,” took over the film division of Mediawan Kids & Family under a year ago with the ambition to develop a mix of mainstream franchise-based projects and auteur-driven 2D titles.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Eurozoom, a leading French distributor for Japanese animation, has forged a strategic partnership with major French animation producer Special Touch Studios, led by founder and CEO Sebastien Onomo. “We both share the same passion for animation and want to tell bold stories with a particular attention to professional diversity,” said Eurozoom’s CEO-Founder Amel Lacombe, who added that they were jointly working on a six-animation feature lineup. Leading the pack is “Melvile,” directed by Romain Renard and Fursy Teyssier.

Christopher Vourlias The team behind the Ukrainian hit animated feature “Mavka. The Forest Song” is partnering with “Luxembourg, Luxembourg” filmmaker Antonio Lukich to launch Ukraine’s first satirical animated feature, the filmmakers announced during the Annecy Animation Festival. Produced by Animagrad Studio and Telescope Animation, “Family Squad” is billed as a life-affirming dramedy pitched at young adults.

EXCLUSIVE: Iconic Poirot actor David Suchet will replicate an international expedition crime writer Agatha Christie took in the 1920s in a five-part doc series.

Ben Croll Stop-motion maestro Claude Barras (“My Life as a Zucchini,” “Savages!”) will back “Ogresse,” a tragicomic musical directed by three-time Grammy winner Cecile McLorin Salvant and Belgian animator Lia Bertels. Variety can share this first look.

Naman Ramachandran Women in Animation (WIA) has revealed the five teams chosen for the 2024 Stories x Women program, sponsored by The Walt Disney Company and UNESCO. The initiative aims to amplify diverse voices in animation, offering international opportunities for women animators from emerging markets in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

Addie Morfoot Contributor “La Cocina,” the Rooney Mara-starring drama that premiered at the 2024 Berlinale, is among four feature films that will screen at the inaugural Croatian International Film Festival beginning Aug. 8. The four-day event, set in the coastal city of Sibenik, will also feature 18 documentary and narrative shorts, giving the struggling independent film market an additional international venue to screen movies and launch careers.