Vincent Cassel, Lea Seydoux’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Sells to Shout! Factory

Christophe Gans (“Silent Hill”) directed the epic fantasy adventure for Pathé International

Beauty and the Beast

Shout! Factory has struck a deal with Pathé International to secure all U.S. rights to Christophe Gans’ epic fantasy adventure movie “Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête),” which stars Léa Seydoux (“Spectre”) and Vincent Cassel (“Black Swan”) as the title characters, the company announced Tuesday.

André Dussollier (“Amelie”) co-stars alongside Eduardo Noriega, Myriam Charleins, Audrey Lamy, Sara Giraudeau, Jonathan Demurger, Nicolas Gob, Louka Meliava and Yvonne Catterfeld.

After the wreck of his ships, a financially ruined merchant (Dussollier) exiles himself in the countryside with his six children, including his youngest daughter Belle (Seydoux). One day, the merchant stumbles across the magical domain of the Beast (Cassel), who sentences him to death for stealing a rose.

Feeling responsible for the terrible fate which has befallen her family, Belle decides to sacrifice herself and take her father’s place. At the Beast’s castle, it is not death that awaits Belle, but a strange life in which fantastical moments mingle with gaiety and melancholy. Every night, Belle and the Beast sit down together for dinner and learn about each other, taming one another like two strangers who are total opposites.

When she has to repulse his amorous advances, Belle tries to pierce the mysteries of the Beast and his domain. And when night falls, the Beast’s past is revealed to her bit by bit in her dreams. It’s a tragic story, which tells her that this solitary and fearsome being was once a majestic prince. Armed with her courage, ignoring every danger, and opening her heart, Belle manages to release the Beast from his curse, and in doing so, she discovers true love.

Produced by Eskwad and Pathé, “Beauty and the Beast” premiered at last year’s Berlin International Film Festival and is already a hit with global audiences. Shout! Factory has secured its U.S. distribution rights including theatrical, video on-demand, digital, broadcast and home entertainment for cross-platform releases. The company plans a strategic rollout in theaters.

Beauty in red dressGans directed the film from a script he co-wrote with Sandra Vo-Anh. The film was produced by Richard Grandpierre and Jérôme Seydoux. Frederic Doniguian served as executive producer, while the film’s co-producers include Romain Le Grand, Henning Molfenter, Christoph Fisser and Charlie Woebcken.

“We are incredibly excited about this new relationship with Pathé, an internationally renowned studio recognized for its fantastic movie productions. This stunning film delivers a vibrant, captivating cinematic adventure. The remarkable talent behind and in front of the camera is sure to win the hearts and minds of movie fans,” said Melissa Boag, senior VP of kids and family entertainment at Shout! Factory. “We look forward to building a broad audience across all major distribution platforms.”

“We are thrilled to be partnering up with Shout! Factory for the first time and are confident they will do a sterling job with the film’s release in the U.S. This modern take on a classic tale, shot with state-of-the-art technology and under the imaginative vision of Christophe Gans deserves to reach as wide an audience as possible,” said Muriel Sauzay, the executive VP of international sales at Pathé who made the announcement with Shout! Factory’s founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos.

“Beauty and the Beast” is a production of Eskwad, Pathé, TF1 Films Productions, Studio Babelsberg and 120 Films. Cliff MacMillan handled the acquisition for Shout! Factory, whose David McIntosh negotiated the deal with Pathé’s Sauzay.

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