Capping off a string of major sales deals worldwide, L.A.-based Cinema Management Group (CMG) has sold the U.S. rights of animated feature “Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon” to Shout! Studios.
The multi-platform entertainment distribution and production arm of Shout! Factory has secured all U.S. rights, including theatrical, home entertainment rights (digital, VOD, broadcast, and all packaged media) for cross-platform releases.
Shout! plans a strategic rollout of the lauded Peruvian-Dutch co-production across multiple entertainment platforms, starting with select film festivals and a theatrical launch later this year.
“‘Ainbo’ is a strikingly visual animated movie with the relevant theme of environmental conservation and a strong, young female lead character,” said Melissa Boag, Shout! executive VP of kids & family entertainment who expressed confidence that the film would “resonate with everyone who sees it.”
Directed by José Zelada (“Kayara,” “Searching for Hearts”) and Richard Claus (“The Little Vampire,” “The Thief Lord”), “Ainbo” follows the epic journey of Ainbo, a 13-year-old indigenous girl and her quirky but sage spirit guides, Dillo, an armadillo, and Vaca, an oversized tapir.
Together, they set out to save the endangered Amazon rainforest. Not unlike Disney hits “Moana” and “Frozen,” the toon delivers a topical message on the importance of saving planet earth’s fragile natural resources.
“We are thrilled to be partnering in the U.S. with Shout! Studios and look forward to this highly anticipated film being released stateside. We have seen ‘Ainbo’ take the international audience by storm amid a pandemic and know it will be a huge success here in the United States with the distribution expertise of Shout! Studios,” said CMG president, Edward Noeltner whose company has sold “Ainbo” to more than 80 territories, most recently to the U.K. Ireland, Australia, New Zealand in June last year.
Despite COVID-19 restrictions that reduced cinema admissions, the film has racked up more than $12 million at the international box office to date.
Pic received multiple nominations, including best feature, at the Ibero-American animation Quirino Awards in Spain where it grossed $1.5 million with over 186,000 Admissions, according to CMG.
It also performed remarkably at the box offices of France (distributed by Le Pacte), Poland, Australia-New Zealand and the Netherlands.
Elsewhere, “Ainbo” opened No. 2 in Central America (CDC), No. 3 in the Ukraine (Monumental Pictures) and Norway and No. 4 in Singapore (Shaw Entertainment), and Switzerland (Praesens) as well as Iceland (Sena) and Vietnam (Blue Lantern).
The deal was negotiated by Shout! Studios’ VP of Acquisitions Jordan Fields and Steven Katz, VP of business affairs,and Noeltner on behalf of Cinema Management Group and the producers.
Other upcoming Shout! releases for 2022 include topical drama feature “I’m Charlie Walker,” starring Mike Colter and Dylan Baker, and medieval action-adventure “Kingslayer,” starring Ryan Gage, David Hayman, and John Rhys-Davies.