Redbox To Be Acquired By Crackle Parent Chicken Soup For The Soul Entertainment In All-Stock Deal Focused On Value End Of Streaming Market

Jessica Kiang In order to return somewhere, you first have to leave it. So it’s arguable whether the initial visit in Davy Chou’s strange, deep, changeable and wise “Return to Seoul” even qualifies in a meaningful sense as a return.

EXCLUSIVE: Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment, Crazy Rich Asians producer SK Global, Jeff Sagansky and Florence Sloan have teamed to launch Jaya Entertainment, a content company focused on developing, producing and financing premium international series. Top TV producer Kaplan, prominent media investor Sagansky, Sloan and SK Global (via Ivanhoe Pictures) previously partnered in a Mumbai-based venture that produces hit Hindi-language Netflix series Delhi Crime, which won the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series and returns for a second season on the streamer later this year.

An adoptee explores her Korean roots in Return To Seoul, Davy Chou’s engaging drama premiering at Cannes in Un Certain Regard. Newcomer Park Ji-Min plays the magnificently complex Freddie, who was raised in France and has impetuously decided to spend a couple of weeks in the country of her birth.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefUn Certain Regard title “Return to Seoul” from French-Cambodian director Davy Chou caused an early stir by being one of the first Official Selection titles from this year’s Cannes to secure a U.S. release — through Sony Pictures Classics. That may be a reflection of Chou’s quest for authenticity in a bi-cultural tale about a European-raised woman and her biological family in Korea.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefEpic Pictures Releasing has licensed North American rights to Korean action film “Hot Blooded,” from leading Seoul-based film sales agency Finecut. The deal is one of several struck by the agency ahead of Cannes, where it is also launching sales on Critics’ Week title “Next Sohee.”Starring Bae Doona and Kim Si-eun, “Next Sohee” is directed by Jung July, whose acclaimed “A Girl at My Door” played in Un Certain regard in 2014.

TelevisaUnivision revealed a barrage of projects are in development for both linear and streaming via Vix. An animated series from Sofia Vergara and a Selena Quintanilla tribute concert is a sampling of the upcoming programming announced during the network’s Upfronts presentation on Tuesday.

GFRIEND member Yerin has shared a teaser for her upcoming debut solo single ‘Aria’, from her first mini-album of the same name.In the vibrant clip Yerin is perched on a swing, and smiles as gigantic flowers bloom around her and petals fall from the sky. In another scene, she dances to a snippet of the track with a group of backup dancers.

Manori Ravindran International EditorIn one of the first major deals of the Cannes market, Sony Pictures Classics has swooped on Un Certain Regard title “All The People I’ll Never Be.” The distributor has picked up rights in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.The film, which is written and directed by Davy Chou (“Diamond Island”), will be re-titled as “Return to Seoul.” It premieres in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday.The pic centers on 25-year-old Freddie, who impulsively returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the North American rights and other territories to “All The People I’ll Never Be,” a film from writer and director Davy Chou that is playing in the Un Certain Regard section on Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival. SPC is also planning on re-titling the movie in English, “Return to Seoul,” which is the translation of its actual title in French. In addition to North America, the distributor also acquired rights to the film in Latin America, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.“All The People I’ll Never Be” is the story of a 25-year-old woman who, on an impulse, returns to South Korea for the first time where she was born before being adopted and raised in France.

Ahead of its world premiere in Un Certain Regard section of Cannes, the Davy Chou directed and written feature All the People I’ll Never Be has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics.

Manori Ravindran International EditorWarner Bros. Discovery’s international streaming lead JB Perrette has said that an extensive joint venture with BT Sport, which was confirmed on Thursday, ensures that the company won’t be a “one-product, one-content type story,” particularly in the U.K.The 50-50 sports joint venture between Warner Bros.

revenues fell from $858 million in 2019 to just $289 million last year.A SPAC merger taking the company public on Nasdaq last fall injected $145 million in cash, but the financials still suffered. Shares continued to slide from a November 2021 high near $18 to just over $2 in mid-April of this year.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorRedbox Entertainment, the struggling DVD kiosk and streaming video company, has set a deal to be acquired by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment in an all-stock transaction.The company will operate more than 38,000 kiosks nationwide as well as digital media services spanning ad-supported and transactional video services. The deal is valued at $375 million, comprising about $50 million in stock and the new company’s assumption of $325 million in debt.The deal comes after Redbox in October 2021 became a publicly traded company after merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).