Warner Bros. has taken U.K. rights to animated movie “Luis and the Aliens,” written and directed by Oscar-winning brothers Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein. Global Screen handled the deal.
The adventure film, which is produced by Ulysses Films, Fabrique d’Images and A. Film Production, begins its British theatrical roll-out on Aug. 24.
The film tells the story of a 12-year-old boy, Luis, who makes friends with three little aliens who crash their spaceship near to Luis’ house in a small Midwestern city. “In return for Luis’ help finding the home-shopping channel stuff they came for, they try to save Luis from boarding school – and a tumultuous adventure takes its course,” according to a statement.
The Lauenstein brothers, who won an Oscar for their animated short “Balance,” also directed Global Screen’s latest high-profile 3D animated film, “Marnie’s World.” The film is about a spoiled house cat, Marnie, who is lured into a secret agent job that brings her out onto the streets, and teams her up with a bunch of runaway animals – a donkey, a dog and a rooster – to track down a gang of notorious thieves.
Rights for “Marnie’s World” in France were picked up by Septieme Factory, and further deals have been closed for Spain (Flins y Peniculas), China (Vision Film), Hungary (ADService), Latin America (CDC Film), Portugal (Films4You), Turkey (TME), Bulgaria (Pro Film), Russia/Ukraine (Voxell), Indonesia (Onevision), Middle East (Shooting Stars), Philippines (Crystalsky), South Korea (Yejilim), Vietnam (Rainfilm), Greece (Zinos Panagiotidis S.A.) and Malaysia (Suraya), with the U.K. and Scandinavia in negotiation.
“’Marnie’s World,’ which we were first able to show at this year’s [Cannes Market], brims with verbal gags, action and adventure, and offers great entertainment for the whole family. We are proud that we’ve some of the most prolific distributors for animation and family entertainment films already on board,” Julia Weber, head of theatrical sales and acquisitions at Global Screen, said.
“Marnie’s World” is produced by Germany’s Scopas Medien in co-production with Belgium’s Grid Animation.
