South Korean animation “Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs” opens Wednesday in some 300 cinemas in France, giving the fairy tale derivative a further chance demonstrate its resistant to coronavirus.
Using the fairy tale format to tell a story about the true meaning of beauty, the film was written and directed by Hong Sung Ho (“Egg Cola,” “Wonderful Days”), with Jin Kim (“Frozen,” “Moana,” “Tangled”) credited as the film’s animation director. Its English-language version attracted top tier voice talent including Chloë Grace Moretz, Sam Claflin, and Gina Gershon.
In Australia and New Zealand, where it is handled by Rialto Distribution, it has been on release since July 2, 2020 and amassed over $1 million to date. In Spain, it was released on July 3 through 214 screens and topped the box office for two weeks. By the end of the July 17-19 weekend, it had amassed EUR494,000 ($568,000).
In pre-coronavirus times, it was released in Korea beginning this time last year, and going on to earn $5.0 million from its theatrical run. Another pre-coronavirus release, in Poland through Kino Swiat on Jan. 24, generated $1.3 million.
Other releases of the film have gone ahead in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking Africa (Nos Lusomundo), the Baltic States (ACME), Benelux (Splendid), Bulgaria (Pro Films), CIS & Russia (Focus Entity Capital), Ex-Yugoslavia & Albania (Blitz), German-speaking Europe (Splendid), Hong Kong & Macau (Just Distribution), Israel (Filmhouse), Italy (Lucky Red), Middle East (Gulf Film), the Philippines (ABS-CBN), Romania (Idea Film Distribution), Taiwan (Av-Jet), U.K. & Ireland (Altitude) and Vietnam (Golden River).
The French release is handled by prominent art-house distributor ARP. The company appears to have rediscovered a taste for Korean titles having previously released “Train to Busan” and “Wildlife” and is currently releasing hit “Peninsula.”
Upcoming releases through the remainder of 2020 include those through: Importadora y Exportadora de Peliculas in Latin America in late July; Storytelling Media in Norway; (Fabula Medya in Turkey; Bohemi Motion Pictures in Czech, Slovak Republic and Hungary; and Soundspace International in India. Japan’s At Entertainment is planning an outing in 2021.