Finecut Sells Animated 'Leafie' to U.S., U.K., Australia

SEOUL –- Leafie: A Hen Into the Wild, Korea’s highest grossing homespun animated feature with 2.2 million domestic admissions, racked up numerous sales at the American Film Market, according to Seoul-based distributor Finecut.

our editor recommends

Korea's Finecut Sells 'Poongsan' and 'Leafie'

Dadi, Myung Films to Release Animated Kids Film 'Leafie'

The film, about a hen escaping a chicken farm, was picked up by Toronto-based 108 Media Group for distribution in English-speaking countries including Canada, U.S., Australia, U.K. and New Zealand. Leafie also sold to German-speaking territories via Ascot Elit and Brazil’s Conquest Filmes. It has so far secured deals for 46 countries around Asia, Europe and the Middle East after going on sale at Busan’s Asian Film Market, Cannes’s MIPCOM and Rome’s Business Street.

Most distributors plan to make theatrical releases early next year for family audiences, said Finecut. The film was released in China in September by Dadi.

Finecut also announced deals for other local titles during the AFM. Athena: Goddess of War, the big screen spin-off of the TV action series of the same name, sold to China (New View TV & Media), German-speaking territories (Tiberius Films) and North America (Funimation). The film has been sold to over a dozen countries, said Finecut.

The popular thriller Blind, about a visually impaired woman fighting a serial rapist-killer, sold to Japan’s King Records as well as Malaysia and Brunei via Hwa Yea Multimedia, after recent deals with German-speaking territories (MFA+) and Taiwan (Eagle International Communication).

The horror film The Cat was picked up by Japan’s Magnetar and Mercury for Francophone countries, while the comedy Unstoppable Family secured deals for Japan (JoyNContents), Taiwan (Eagle International) and the U.S. (CJ CGV). JoyNContents also bought rights for Heartbeat, starring Lost star Kim Yun-jin, as well as three more library titles from Finecut.