In a seven-figure deal, Wrekin Hill Entertainment has acquired all North American rights to Christian De Vita’s 3D animated feature “Yellowbird” from TeamTO and Haut & Court, the company announced Monday.
Based on fantastic artwork by Benjamin Renner (“Ernest and Celestine”), “Yellowbird” features the voices of Seth Green, Dakota Fanning, Danny Glover, Elliott Gould, Jim Rash and Christine Baranski.
Antoine Barraud and Guilhem Lesaffre wrote the currently-in-production movie with Cory Edwards (“Hoodwinked”), and Wrekin Hill will release the film in theaters this fall.
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Charting a path from Europe to Africa, “Yellowbird” is the epic story of a young teenage bird so scared to venture out into the world that he nearly misses the fun of discovering who he really is.
“We believe that ‘Yellowbird’ will capture the imagination of children, teens and adults alike. It is a beautifully written story about the power of self-discovery and community that will surely take audiences on anincredible emotional journey with its characters,” said Wrekin Hill president/CEO Chris Ball. “With films like ‘Frozen’ and ‘The Nut Job’ showing strength at the U.S. box office, it is clear that there is a real hunger for satisfying family entertainment.”
“‘Yellowbird’ is both a fable and a touching human comedy about self-realization. We are thrilled to work with Wrekin Hill as our American distributor,” added TeamTO producer Corinne Kouper.
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The deal for “Yellowbird” was negotiated by Rene Cogan and Alex Mandell for Wrekin Hill with Simon Crowe for UK-based SC Films International on behalf of the filmmakers.
Wrekin Hill has a multi-year U.S. home entertainment distribution deal with Lionsgate, and a three-year multi-platform output deal with Canadian distributor eOne. The company’s most recent acquisitions include Bille August’s “Night Train to Lisbon” starring Jeremy Irons, Melanie Laurent and Charlotte Rampling; and Gabriele Salvatores’ upcoming “Deadly Code” starring John Malkovich.