Hulu Nabs U.S. Rights to Anton’s Animated Family Film ‘Fireheart’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy
·2 min read

Hulu has acquired U.S. rights to “Fireheart,” Anton’s ambitious animated family feature directed by Laurent Zeitoun (“Leap!”) and Theodore Ty (“Kung Fu Panda”) with a voice cast headlined by Olivia Cooke, William Shatner, Laurie Holden and Kenneth Branagh.

The deal was negotiated with Hulu by CAA Media Finance and Anton’s Cécile Gaget on behalf of the producers. “Fireheart” will debut on Hulu in the U.S. this month.

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Zeitoun wrote the screenplay for “Fireheart” and produced the film alongside Yann Zenou, André Rouleau and Valėrie d’Auteuil. The team previously joined forces on another animated feature, “Leap!”

Set in New York in the roaring twenties, the film follows a fearless 16-year-old girl, Georgia Nolan (Cooke), who dreams of being the world’s first ever female firefighter. When a mysterious arsonist starts burning down Broadway, New York’s firemen begin vanishing. Georgia’s father, Shawn (Branagh), is called out of retirement by the Mayor of New York to lead the investigation into the disappearances. Desperate to help her father and save her city, Georgia disguises herself as a young man called Joe and joins a small group of misfit firefighters trying to stop the arsonist.

“Fireheart” recently begun its international roll-out in theaters and had a strong opening in France with 900,000 tickets sold for SND, as well as in Latin America (outside of Brazil) with over $1.5 million grossed in its second week for IDC.

The movie has also had a healthy bow in Eastern Europe, Switzerland and French-speaking Africa. Upcoming releases include Shaw Renters in Singapore on March 10, Filmfinity in South Africa on March 18 and T&B Medias in Thailand on March 31.

Underscoring the appeal of high-end independent animated features, “Firehart” has been picked up by eOne in Australia, U.K., Germany, Spain, Benelux and Canada; Leone in Italy, SF Studios in Scandinavia, Vertical for Eastern Europe, Acme in the Baltics and Blitz in Ex-Yugoslavia and Albania, Noori Pictures in South Korea.

Other distributors on the film include Selim Ramia in West Asia, Filmfinity in South Africa, Cinemundo in Portugal, Red Cape in Israel, Ascot Elite in Switzerland, Kino Swiat in Poland, Golden Scene in Hong Kong and Macau, Indo Overseas Films in India, Proview in Taiwan, TGV in Malaysia, Feel Good in Greece, Shaw Renters in Singapore, BG Films in Turkey, T&B Media Global in Thailand, Sam Film in Iceland and MVP in Mongolia.

Zeitoun’s production company Good Hero, which is based in New York and Paris, just signed a strategic partnership with Mediawan to co-develop and co-produce original international TV series and feature films. Zeitoun previously produced “The Intouchables” and “The Death of Stalin” with Zenou.

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