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Signature Entertainment has said that it has acquired the U.K. and Irish rights to animated family adventure The Inseparables, written by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow (Toy Story), from nWave Studios. A major theatrical release is planned for Dec. 8.

The feature is produced by Matthieu Zeller (The Queen’s Corgi, Bigfoot Family, Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness) and Matthieu Gondinet (Bigfoot Family, Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness) and directed by Jérémie Degruson (The House of Magic, Son of Bigfoot, Bigfoot Family). It was written and based on an original story by Cohen and Sokolow and adapted into a screenplay by Cal Brunker (Paw Patrol: The Movie) and Bob Barlen (Arctic Dogs).

The adventure follows a puppet named Don, tired of always playing the fool, who teams up with rapping teddy bear DJ Doggy Dog to save his friends in a wondrous adventure across Central Park.

The deal was...

“The Inseparables,” Jérémie Degruson’s ambitious animated feature competing this week at Annecy festival, has been sold to a raft of territories by Octopolis and nWave.

Based on an original idea by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, the Oscar-nominated writers of “Toy Story,” “The Inseparables” follows the misadventures of Don, a runaway puppet with a boundless imagination and, DJ Doggy Dog, an abandoned stuffed animal toy in need of a friend. Don and DJ Doggy Dog cross paths in Central Park and pair up against all odds for an epic adventure of friendship in New York City. The film was penned by Bob Barlen and Cal Brunker.

Budgeted at $25 million, “The Inseparables” was produced by nWave Studios in Belgium, Octopolis in France and A Contracorriente Films in Spain.

New sales deals have been closed for France (Kmbo), South Korea (First Run), Greece (Odeon), Poland (M2 Films), Turkey (filmarti), Israel (Forum...

Ben Stassen’s nWave Studios is set to produce “The Inseparables,” a 25 million animated feature based on an original idea by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, the Oscar-nominated writers of “Toy Story.”

The feature is being jointly produced by nWave Studios in Belgium, Octopolis in France and A Contracorriente Films in Spain.

Cohen and Sokolow penned the feature with Cal Brunker, Bob Barlen, Matthieu Zeller and Jérémie Degruson.

Degruson, who previously directed some of nWave Studios’ biggest animated hits “The House of Magic,” “Bigfoot Junior” and Bigfoot Family,” is on board to helm “The Inseparables.”

The animated buddy movie follows the misadventures of Don, a runaway puppet with a boundless imagination and, DJ Doggy Dog, an abandoned stuffed animal toy in need of a friend, as they cross paths in Central Park and pair up against all odds for an epic adventure of friendship in New York City.

The movie...

“Mister Crocodile,” “Corgi, A Royal Family” and “Piggy Builders” are among 84 TV series animated projects set to unspool at the 2021 Cartoon Forum which takes place in Toulouse, southern France, over Sept. 20-23 in an entirely in-person format.

21 countries from Europe will introduce animated projects at pitching sessions and industry networking, the backbone of Cartoon Forum’s activities. The 84 projects were selected from 141 submissions.

Targeting children and produced by France’s The Magical Society, “Mister Crocodile” is penned by Simon Nicholson and Joann Sfar and based on Sfar’s graphic novel. The series depicts the friendship between a girl and a crocodile, who asks to be her pet.

One of the most anticipated titles at the Forum, “Corgi, A Royal Family” is produced by France’s Studio Redfrog and Belgium’s nWave Studios, the company behind Ben Stassen’s “A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures,” “The House of Magic,” “Fly Me to the Moon...

Federation Kids & Family and leading European kids entertainment company TeamTO are joining forces on the new animated comedy series “Presto! School of Magic,” a spinoff of Studiocanal’s animated feature hit “The House of Magic.”

Federation Kids & Family will be repping the series in international markets outside of China. Set to be launch this fall, “Presto! School of Magic” is produced by TeamTO with Belgian partners Panache Productions and La Compagnie Cinématographique.

French broadcasters M6 and Canal Plus have already commissioned the series. It revolves around a band of talented and curious kids who dream of becoming magicians, including Dylan and Lisa who are new students of the school which used to be an old mansion. Each kid has a different reason for attending the school, but they have one thing in common: a passion for illusion, conjuring and the art of magic.

“Presto! School of Magic” was an Official...

Charades has scored a raft of pre-sales on Ben Stassen’s 3D animated feature “Bigfoot Family,” one of the biggest features competing at Annecy’s online film festival.

Directed by Stassen and Jérémie Degruson, “Bigfoot Family” (previously titled “Bigfoot Superstar”), is the sequel to “Son of Bigfoot” which was released internationally in 2017 and grossed more than $50 million worldwide.

Budgeted at more than $20 million, “Bigfoot Family” will be widely released by Francois Clerc’s Apollo Films in France on August 5. The movie was produced by Brussels-based nWave Pictures and stars Pappy Faulkner, Lindsay Torrance and Chris Parsons. “Bigfoot Family” is based upon an original story by Stassen, and was written by Bob Barlen and Cal Brunker (“Escape From Planet Earth”).

Over the last few months, Charades has pre-sold the anticipated film to most territories, including Germany (Splendid), Spain (Tripictures/A Contracorriente), Israel (Forum), Switzerland (Impuls), South Korea (Isu C&e), Greece (Odeon...

Ever wondered what the life of a Royal Corgi would be like? Why not find out with a new trailer from Lionsgate UK for ‘The Queen’s Corgi’.

Directed by Ben Stassen (A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures, Thunder and the House of Magic) and Vincent Kesteloot (The Wild Life), written by Rob Sprackling and John R. Smith (Gnomeo and Juliet), and produced by nWave Pictures.

Voice cast includes Jack Whitehall is Rex, Ray Winstone is Tyson, Julie Walters is The Queen, Sheridan Smith is Wanda, Matt Lucas is Charlie and Tom Courtenay as The Duke of Edinburgh.

Also in trailers – Sophie Turner loses control in trailer for ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’

The film is released on July 5th

The Queen’s Corgi Synopsis

Rex is the Queen’s Top Dog – a spoilt little corgi who lives a life of luxury in Buckingham Palace. But when Rex winds up in a London Dog’s Home,...

Ever wondered what the life of one of the Queen’s Corgis would be like? Why not find out with a new teaser trailer from Lionsgate UK for the upcoming animation.

Directed by Ben Stassen (A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures, Thunder and the House of Magic) and Vincent Kesteloot (The Wild Life), written by Rob Sprackling and John R. Smith (Gnomeo and Juliet), and produced by nWave Pictures.

Also in trailers – Magical first look trailer arrives for Disney’s Aladdin

The film will be released in the UK in 2019.

The Queen’s Corgi Official Synopsis

Rex is the Queen’s Top Dog – a spoilt little corgi who lives a life of luxury in Buckingham Palace. But when Rex winds up in a London Dog’s Home, surrounded by tough strays, he must learn that to become a true Top Dog, you have to earn it!

The post Teaser...

Companies part ways after seven-year partnership.

Belgian 3D animation studio nWave Pictures has ended its seven-year relationship with Studiocanal.

It was announced during the Cannes Film Festival that nWave would buy back Studiocanal’s shares in the company. This agreement is now complete, nWave has confirmed.

The transaction was jointly negotiated between Studiocanal and nWave, ending the partnership formed in 2010 for the development, co-financing and distribution of nWave Studios’ feature films.

These included A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures (2010), The House Of Magic (2013) and The Wild Life (2016).

The statement adds that nWave Studios will explore new long-term partnership opportunities to expand its development, production and distribution efforts.

A source told Screen in May that Studiocanal has been slow to give the go-ahead to nWave’s projects.

“It just became impossible to work together and so we decided to part ways,” nWave CEO Ben Stassen told Screen

The final collaboration between nWave and Studiocanal is the upcoming...

Animation outfit to buy back its shares from Studiocanal.

Belgian 3D animation specialist nWave Pictures is set to end its longstanding relationship with Studiocanal.

The news was confirmed this week by company CEO Ben Stassen. The Son Of Bigfoot (aka Bigfoot Junior) is the final film that nWave is partnering on with Studiocanal. It will be released in August across Europe, including in Studiocanal’s direct-distribution territories, France, UK and Germany.

Over the last seven years, nWave and Studiocanal have partnered on projects such as A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures (2010) and The House Of Magic (2013) – European-originated animated features with budgets in excess of $20m that have sold around the world. However, nWave’s next feature, The Queen’s Corgi, will be made without Studiocanal support.

nWave’s model relies on greenlighting one film every year in order to keep the pipeline running and ensuring continuing work for the company’s 120 staff. The hitch, according...

There have been several attempts to revisit Robinson Crusoe from the point of view of loyal sidekick Friday, but up until now, no one has tried to tell the story from the perspective of Crusoe’s parrot, dog, and goat. In comes Belgian animation studio NWave Pictures (previously behind Fly Me To The Moon, which depicted the Apollo 11 mission from the perspective of… some houseflies) with The Wild Life, the sort of uninspired international pre-sales item that usually goes straight from a basement booth at the Cannes film market to a Netflix parent’s peripheral vision. The sole interesting thing about NWave’s animation is its use of the camera, which plays to 3-D’s pop-out factor; otherwise, its movies (like Thunder And The House Of Magic and A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures, both directed or co-directed by founder Ben Stassen) are pap, cranked out on an...

One World Films exec joins Studiocanal, which announces expanded production role for UK CEO Danny Perkins.

Studiocanal has expanded its international film production activities with the appointment of producer Matthew Gledhill [pictured] as senior vice president, international production, and by assigning a broader production remit to UK CEO Danny Perkins.

The Paris-based film and high-end TV division of the Vivendi-owned Canal+ Group said Gledhill’s arrival on March 31 was part of the ongoing development of its international film production activities.

Gledhill, who joins from One World Films, will act as an executive producer on international feature films produced in-house by Studiocanal.

He will also oversee titles produced by Ben Stassen’s Belgian-based 3D/4D animation studio nWave Pictures, which is a subsidiary of Studiocanal. Past features by the company include Robinson Crusoe and The House Of Magic.

Gledhill produced Viggo Mortensen drama Far From Men and worked with Studiocanal chairman and CEO Didier Lupfer before, serving as a supervising...

Agreement includes We Are Your Friends, starring Zac Efron.

StudioCanal and Swiss independent distributor Impuls Pictures have closed an output deal securing distribution rights to all StudioCanal International Productions in Switzerland.

Impuls Pictures, a unit of Impuls Media Group, will be granted with distribution rights in Switzerland to StudioCanal Films including Aardman’s animated Early Man as well as Bastille Day, The Program, We Are Your Friends, nWave’s Robinson Crusoe and James Marsh’s next feature starring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz, the Untitled Donald Crowhurst Project currently shooting in the UK.

The deal was negotiated for StudioCanal by Anna Marsh, head of international sales, and Pierre Mazars, vp international sales, and for Impuls Pictures by the CEO’s Peter and Patrick Schaumlechner and Daniel Guckau.

Impuls Pictures co-ceo Patrick Schaumlechner said the output deal “would provide a constant pipeline of some of the most commercial and outstanding films in the world”.

Impuls has been a...

Exclusive: New films from Pathe, StudioCanal, Gaumont among haul.

Fledgling Turkish distributor Fabula Films has finalised deals for ten films from the Afm, including Nicolas Winding Refn’s next film The Neon Demon from Gaumont and StudioCanal’s 3D animation Robinson.

After securing 20 films at Toronto the outfit has bolstered its slate with Stephen Frears’ Florence Foster Jenkins biopic, starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, and awards contender Selma, both from Pathe.

The latter is set for a February 2015 release.

From StudioCanal, the company acquired English-language 3D animation Robinson, produced by nWave, Zac Efron drama We are Your Friends, and Stephen Frears’ Lance Armstrong drama starring Ben Foster.

Post-World War II drama Labyrinth of Lies was bought from Beta Cinema, while the new film by Patrice Leconte Do Not Disturb was picked up from Wild Bunch. The company also acquired Bankside’s crowdpleaser X+Y, starring Asa Butterfield as a socially awkward teenage maths prodigy.

Starring [link=nm...

It.s hardly the ideal date movie but David Fincher.s lacerating portrait of a marriage gone sour drove ticket sales at Australian cinemas last weekend.

Starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike and based on Gillian Flynn.s best-selling novel, Gone Girl grabbed $4.7 million from Thursday to Sunday according to Rentrak.s estimates and $5 million with previews.

Pro-rata, that.s more potent than the Us 3-day bow of $US37.5 million, where the Fox film had to fight off a strong challenge from fellow debutante Annabelle.

The horror movie produced by James Wan, who directed the 2013 hit The Conjuring, fetched $US37.1 million in the Us, an unusually big opening for the genre, and a solid $1.9 million in Australia.

Here The Maze Runner continued to run hard, taking nearly $2 million in its third weekend (off 34%), propelling its takings to $12.8 million.

Despite mostly withering reviews, Dracula Untold, the origin story of the man who became Dracula,...

Denzel Washington.s films have raked in more than $4 billion at cinemas worldwide but the superstar.s latest movie was beaten in Australia last weekend by a bunch of barely known youngsters.

The Equalizer, a violent big-screen version of the 1985 TV series, which re-teamed Washington with his Training Day director Antoine Fuqua, rang up $2.3 million from Thursday through Sunday.

Pro-rata that was well below the Us weekend debut of $US35.1 million, which ranks as the biggest September launch for an R-rated film, eclipsing Jackass: Number Two, which pulled in $29 million in 2006.

In Oz the action movie, which casts Washington as a former member of the special forces who comes out of retirement after Russian gangsters ensare a young girl (Chloe Grace Moretz), trailed the second outing of sci-fi action/adventure The Maze Runner.

A clear favourite with vacationing teenagers, The Maze Runner, which features Dylan O.Brien, Aml Ameen, Will Poulter and Kaya Scodelario,...

In the end it was no contest: doomsday action- thriller The Maze Runner easily took line honours at Australian cinemas last weekend.

The adaptation of James Dashner's young adult novel starring Teen Wolf.s Dylan O'Brien as a young man whose memory is erased before being dropped into a post-apocalyptic maze, grabbed $3.7 million including previews.

Pro-rata, that.s even stronger than the Us debut of $US32.5 million and it positions the Fox film to clean up during the school vacation.

Paramount.s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a distant second, conjuring up $2.3 million in its second weekend, bringing the tally to $9.9 million. With a total of three weeks. vacation ahead around Australia, the Turtles could end up with as much as $20 million.

However business fell away badly beneath the top 10 as nationwide takings inched up by 1% to $10.7 million according to Rentrak.s estimates.

Disney.s Planes: Fire & Rescue fetched...

Jeremy Degruson and Ben Stassen's animated Thunder and the House of Magic kicks off with an unconscionable act of cruelty: A family abandons a cat on the street, leaving him to desperately dodge traffic. We know the orange tabby Thunder (Murray Blue) isn't going to get run over — not even a family film produced through Belgian tax shelters would get so dark so quickly — but it sets a jarring tone, particularly since the scene is an excuse for the first of the film's many Pov-heavy chase sequences.

The story is serviceable enough: Thunder finds his way into the spooky home of a kindly old children's magician (Doug Stone), and must band together with the distrustful resident animals to prevent the magician's evil real-estate agent nephew (Grant George) f...

Here's your first look at the animated film 'Thunder and the House of Magic' coming to DVD and Blu-ray on September 30!

This fall, venture inside an intriguing mansion full of endearing animals and a dazzling array of automatons and gizmos, and spellbound by the exciting animated adventure of Thunder And The House Of Magic. Already a great box-office success in much of the world, this highly entertaining family movie is directed by renowned 3D filmmakers Ben Stassen (Fly Me to the Moon, Sammy's Adventures: Escape from Paradise) and Jeremie Degruson (A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventure), with original music by Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones). The film also features the music of Selena Gomez.

On September 30, 2014, Shout! Factory is proud to present Thunder And The House Of Magic on DVD and on two-disc Blu-ray™ 3D Combo Pack (Blu-ray 3D and 2D, DVD and digital), available exclusively at Walmart stores everywhere.

Here's your first look at the animated film 'Thunder and the House of Magic' coming to DVD and Blu-ray on September 30!

This fall, venture inside an intriguing mansion full of endearing animals and a dazzling array of automatons and gizmos, and spellbound by the exciting animated adventure of Thunder And The House Of Magic. Already a great box-office success in much of the world, this highly entertaining family movie is directed by renowned 3D filmmakers Ben Stassen (Fly Me to the Moon, Sammy's Adventures: Escape from Paradise) and Jeremie Degruson (A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventure), with original music by Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones). The film also features the music of Selena Gomez.

On September 30, 2014, Shout! Factory is proud to present Thunder And The House Of Magic on DVD and on two-disc Blu-ray™ 3D Combo Pack (Blu-ray 3D and 2D, DVD and digital), available exclusively at Walmart stores everywhere.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has held off competition from Hercules to top the UK box office for the second consecutive weekend.

The Matt Reeves-directed Apes sequel earned £3.7 million to secure the top spot ahead of Dwayne Johnson's latest release and horror sequel The Purge: Anarchy.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 sits at number four after five weeks on release, while Transformers: Age of Extinction rounds out the top five.

The only chart climber is Boyhood, now on its third weekend on release, which moves up a place to number seven.

Elsewhere, the chart sees new entries from family adventure Earth to Echo, Bollywood movie Kick and The House of Magic.

The UK box office top ten in full:

1. (1) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - £3,752,511

2. (-) Hercules - £1,449,120

3. (-) The Purge: Anarchy - £1,165,143

4. (2) How to Train Your Dragon 2 - £990,959

5. (3) Transformers: Age of Extinction...

★★★☆☆With the likes of Disney Pixar and DreamWorks Animation already riding high on a wave of critical acclaim, box office success and Academy Awards, European animation houses are starting to emerge with increasingly strong output. The House of Magic (2013), the latest 3D animated adventure from Belgium's nWave Pictures, illustrates this well. Unfortunately, for all the inventive visuals flourishes and distinctive characters it boasts, there's not much underneath. Abandoned by his owners on the sidewalk, Thunder (Murray Blue) takes shelter in a mysterious house, which turns out to be owned by Lawrence (Doug Stone), an old magician and his striking array of animals and lifelike contraptions.

Within the past few years a variety of hard-hitting, somewhat bleak dramas have hailed out of Belgium. From Our Children, to The Kid with a Bike, to the recently Academy Award nominated The Broken Circle Breakdown – it’s a nation currently going through something of a bright patch. However, sadly that doesn’t seem to extend to films made for a younger crowd, as filmmakers Jeremy Degruson and Ben Stassen present the underwhelming, albeit enchanting, children’s animation The House of Magic.

Murray Blue voices Thunder, an abandoned kitten who seeks shelter at the home of veteran magician Lawrence (Doug Stone), much to the displeasure of his other pets Maggie the Mouse (Shanelle Gray) and Jack the Rabbit (George Babbit), who are jealous of the affection shown towards him. Finally feeling settled and at home in this fantastical, outlandish new environment, living amongst a host of magical creations, it could be a short-lived stay,...

Highlights include Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Abel Ferrara’s controversial Dsk feature Welcome To New York.

The full line-up of the 68th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has been revealed this morning by artistic director Chris Fujiwara at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse.

This year’s festival, which runs from June 18-29, will comprise 156 features from 47 countries, including 11 world premieres, eight international premieres, seven European premieres and 95 UK premieres.

New titles announced today include Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final performances that was first shown at Sundance in January.

Straight from its lively premiere in Cannes is Abel Ferrara’s controversial title Welcome To New York, inspired by the case of former Imf managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, starring Gérard Depardieu, which will receive its UK premiere at Eiff.

Other new titles added to the line-up include [link=nm...

Belgian 3D specialist nWave Pictures and StudioCanal’s $34m The House Of Magic is to get a Christmas release in France, Belgium, South Korea, Singapore and Italy.

The film was produced in association with media fund Anton Capital Entertainment and is directed by nWave founder Ben Stassen and Jeremie Degruson. StudioCanal handles international sales.

Cj Entertainment will distribute in South Korea on December 24, StudioCanal in France and Belga Films in Belgium on December 25, The Shaw Organization in Singapore on December 26. Notorious Pictures will release in Italy on January 1 2014 and Medya Vizyon in Turkey on January 31 2014. Us distributors are circling for a 2014 release.

The House Of Magic tells the story of an abandoned cat who stumbles into a magical old mansion operated by automatons and gizmos and must save the place from sale.

James Flynn, Domonic Paris and Stassen co-wrote the screenplay from an original story idea by Stassen. Caroline Van Iseghem and Stassen produce and Olivier Courson and Eric Dillens...