Family animated movie “Pirate Mo and the Legend of the Red Ruby” proved to be a smash hit with international distributors during the Cannes Film Market, with sales agency The Playmaker Munich delivering the film to multiple buyers.
During the market, The Playmaker announced first presales to Benelux (Just4Kids), Turkey (Filmarti), Baltics (GPI), Greece (Rosebud) and Bulgaria (Pro Films).
The company has now revealed further sales to Poland (M2 Films), Scandinavia (Njuta Films), Hungary and Romania (ADS), Portugal (Outsider Pictures), and Yugoslavia (Blitz Film).
The distribution partners also include German broadcaster NDR, DCM, which will distribute in Germany and Austria, and A Contracorriente Films, which will distribute in Spain.
The film has a planned release of early 2026.
It is produced by Ulysses Films, the company behind box office hits “Amazing Maurice” and “Niko & the Way to the Stars.”
The script for “Pirate Mo,” which is based on Kirsten Boie’s bestselling novel, was written by Richie Conroy, and the director is Florian Westermann, co-director of “The Amazing Maurice.”
The film starts on board a ragtag pirate ship, back in the days when terrible pirates roamed the seven seas. A young girl, Mo, grows up with a crew of seadogs and the ship’s pet… a goat. Mo has been brought up by the ship’s kindly captain, Claas, as his own child, but in fact arrived by chance among the sailors as an infant, swaddled in rags.
Having grown up into a brave and boisterous girl, Mo must wrestle with her father’s career of piracy, and overcome many trials as she seeks to understand the enigma of her birth.
One day, captured by the wicked pirate Peg Leg Olle, Mo bumps into a resourceful young cabin boy, Hannes, and his pet bird. Together with Hannes, Claas, his motley crew and their helpful pets, brave Mo will have to defeat Peg Leg Olle and fulfil her childhood prophecy of finding the Blood Red Ruby of Fortune to restore peace and harmony to the land.
“Pirate Mo” is produced by Emely Christians and Sonja Matthes at Ulysses Films, in co-production with Letterbox Filmproduktion (Holger Ellermann), arx anima (Dunja Bernatzky, Kris Staber) and Arxlight (Nicolás Matji). The production is supported and funded by MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and Creative Europe MEDIA Slate Funding.