Blue Fox Acquires U.S. Rights to ‘School of Magical Animals’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Autlook Filmsales has sold “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood,” which won the directing award for Anna Hints in the World Cinema Documentary section at Sundance, to more than 20 territories in North America, Europe and Australia. Deals are confirmed with Neue Visionen in Germany, Trigon in Switzerland, Against Gravity in Poland, Fidalgo in Norway, Ost For Paradise in Denmark, Vedetta in Benelux, Filmtrade in Greece and Cyprus, FilmIn in Spain, Alambique in Portugal, Filmladen in Austria, Pasaka Films in Lithuania, Artcam in Czech Rep. and Slovak Rep., Best Film in Latvia, Mozinet in Hungary, and Madman in Australia and New Zealand. The rights in U.S. have been picked up by Greenwich Entertainment and in Canada by Sherry Media Group. The theatrical release in Estonia is by ACME Film.

Dermot Mulroney is the latest actor to join the franchise, playing Detective Bailey in alongside Courteney Cox, who returns as Gale Weathers. And because he is playing one of the two law enforcement roles — the other being FBI agent Kirby Reed played Hayden Panettiere — the actor knew he had «a big badge to fill» following David Arquette's longtime run as Deputy Dewey. "[He's] obviously one of the most favorite characters in the whole franchise," Mulroney tells ET's Rachel Smith.As it turns out, when the actor initially got the call to be in the newest sequel, he hadn't seen yet nor did he know about Dewey's fate in the last film.

Note: The following contains major spoilers for “Outer Banks” Season 3.After the sprawling treasure hunt in “Outer Banks” transported John B, Sarah, JJ, Pope and Kiara to Barbados and beyond, Season 3 sees the “daunting” return home as the Pogues anticipate their reunion with their hometown and their families — or what’s left of them at least.“Coming home was pretty daunting for Kiara after the way she left — not knowing what parents she was coming home to like not knowing how they were going to feel,” Madison Bailey told TheWrap. “[She] didn’t know what she’s coming home to.

Netflix has greenlighted an untitled comedy series created and executive produced by Erin Foster, starring and executive produced by Kristen Bell and executive produced by Steven Levitan. It comes from 20th Television where sisters Erin and Sara Foster have a pod deal and Levitan is under an overall deal.

Julia MacCary editor Carl Reed, one of the producers of the Oscar-winning short “Hair Love,” and co-founder of Lion Forge Animation has launched Composition Media, an animation studio headquartered in St. Louis, Mo.for a global audience that highlights minority and underrepresented communities. “I am incredibly excited to finally unveil our animation studio and showcase the incredible work our team has been pouring their hearts and souls into,” said Reed. “Our aim is to break the mold and elevate the art of animation by producing content that truly represents our audiences. But more than that, we want to push the boundaries of what animation can be. It’s time to move past the limitations of animation as just a genre and explore the limitless possibilities of this medium.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.S. film financier Grandave Capital will invest in the documentary “Romano Artioli – The Last Great Dreamer,” about the one-time owner of the Bugatti and Lotus automobile brands, Romano Artioli. In 1952, Artioli, a 20-year-old technician in Italy watched in astonishment as Bugatti ceased production in Molsheim, France. Artioli studied mechanical engineering and went on to repair cars, before eventually setting up an automotive retail and import business. By the mid-1980s, this business became so successful that Artioli was able to begin discussions with the French government about buying the Bugatti brand. In 1987, his dream became a reality.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlinale competition film “Music” opens with gray clouds racing across the face of a Greek mountain as a storm prepares to break. It is a suitably dramatic prelude to the tumultuous events that will unfold, albeit rendered in an understated manner by German director Angela Schanelec, who won the Berlinale best director award in 2019 for “I Was at Home, But.” As the storm lifts, an abandoned baby boy is rescued a paramedic, who names him Jon. Years later, Jon, now a young man, kills another man, accidentally, and ends up in prison. Here, he is tended to by a female guard, Iro, as his eyesight begins to deteriorate. When he is released, the two get married and have a child. But several years later, his wife discovers a terrible secret.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based sales outlet New Europe Film Sales has sold North American distribution rights for its Berlinale-selected drama “Delegation” to Greenwich Entertainment. “Delegation” is a story of three Israeli high school friends who take part in a class trip visiting Holocaust sites in Poland – their last time together before going to the army. During the trip, shy boy Frisch, aspiring artist Nitzan and class heartthrob Ido deal with issues of love, friendship and politics against the backdrop of concentration camps and memorial sites. The journey will change them forever. The deal for the film, which had its premiere in the Generation 14Plus competition, was negotiated by Naszewski and Greenwich co-president Edward Arentz.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Arbelos, a Los Angeles-based boutique film distribution company, has acquired North American rights to the new 4K restoration of Béla Tarr collaborator György Fehér’s landmark but long unseen Hungarian masterpiece “Twilight” (“Szürkület”). The restored version of the film world premiered in the Berlinale’s Classics strand on Monday. Hungary’s National Film Institute handled the sale. Fehér, who made only two theatrical features, shot the black-and-white film at the end of the 1980s. Based on the crime novella “The Pledge” by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, it is the story of a retired detective who uses a girl as bait to try to catch a serial killer.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “Delegation,” a coming-of-age film about an Israeli school trip to Holocaust memorial sites in Poland, has debuted its trailer (below). Israeli writer-director Asaf Saban’s film world premiered at Berlinale Sunday in the Generation 14plus section. Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales is handling international sales. In the film, three Israeli high-school friends take part in a class trip visiting Holocaust sites in Poland – their last time together before going to the army. During the trip, shy boy Frisch, aspiring artist Nitzan and class heartthrob Ido deal with issues of love, friendship and politics against the backdrop of concentration camps and memorial sites. This journey will change them forever.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency Memento Intl. has unveiled the first clip and poster from Liu Jian’s Berlin competition title “Art College 1994,” which world premieres on Feb. 24. The film is a portrait of youth set on the campus of the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts in the early 1990s. Against the backdrop of reforms opening China to the Western world, a group of college students live in full swing as they take their first steps into adulthood, where love and friendships are intertwined with artistic pursuits, ideals and ambitions. Caught between tradition and modernity, they now have to choose who they want to become. It is the director’s third animation feature after 2010’s “Piercing I” and “Have a Nice Day,” which premiered in competition at the Berlinale in 2017, and quickly built a cult following. “Have a Nice Day” was also honored with the best animated feature award at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Uncork’d Entertainment has acquired the North American rights for suspense sci-fi thriller “I’ll Be Watching” from Iuvit Media Sales at the European Film Market in Berlin. The film has also been picked up by Falcon Films in the Middle East and North Africa, while Dolphin Medien has taken German-speaking territory rights. The film is directed by Erik Bernard (“Free Dead or Alive”), and stars “The 100” stars Eliza Taylor and Bob Morley, along with Bryan Batt (“12 Years a Slave”), David Keith (“An Officer and a Gentleman”), Hannah Fierman (“VHS”), and Seth Michaels (“Red Notice”).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor 101 Films Intl. has secured worldwide distribution rights for World War II adventure film “War Blade,” starring Joseph Millson (“Casino Royale,” “The Last Kingdom”), Paul Marlon (“Trigger Point”), Michael McKell (“Murder Investigation Team,” “Doctors”) and Rebecca Scott (“The Capture,” “Transhuman”). The sales company is presenting the film to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin. The film was written and directed by Nicholas Winter (“Robin Hood: The Rebellion,” “Breathe,” “Bone Breaker”). “War Blade” follows Robert Banks, an agent of the British Special Operations Executive, who is tasked with rescuing a French resistance fighter from a hidden Nazi bunker. With the help of a German nurse and a ragtag group of allies, Banks must journey to the belly of the beast.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Russian documentary filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky and the production team behind his Oscar-shortlisted feature “Gunda” will follow up with the second instalment in his “Empathy Trilogy.” AC Independent will handle the North America sale and Cinephil will be selling international rights. They will be kicking off sales this week at the European Film Market in Berlin. The new film focuses on the health of the oceans and the effects of industrial fisheries. The “Empathy Trilogy,” of which “Gunda” formed the first part, looks at the sentience of non-human animals.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Kino Lorber has acquired all rights in the U.S. to “Diabolik,” “Diabolik – Ginko Attacks!” and “Diabolik — Who Are You?” from Beta Cinema at the European Film Market in Berlin. The movies are based on the smash-hit Italian comic-book series about a ruthless master thief, which has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide. The stylish crime-comic adaptations are written and directed by Marco and Antonio Manetti. “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Marvel’s Avengers” actor Giacomo Gianniotti stars in “Diabolik — Ginko Attacks!” and “Diabolik — Who Are You?,” and Luca Marinelli (“The Old Guard”) in the first installment, “Diabolik.” Monica Bellucci (“Matrix,” “The Apartment”) stars in the role of Altea, Miriam Leone (“The Invisible Witness,” “Medici”) as Eva Kant, and Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers,” “Nine”) as Inspector Ginko.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor AnnaSophia Robb has joined Kathy Bates, John Malkovich, Tim Blake Nelson, Stephen Root and Lewis Pullman in the cast of “Thelma.” The Exchange is selling the film at Berlin’s European Film Market. Robb starred in Hulu’s Emmy-winning series “The Act,” Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere” and HBO Max’s “The Carrie Diaries,” and is toplining Netflix’s upcoming “Rebel Ridge.” “Thelma” tells the true story of the 11-year battle by the mother of John Kennedy Toole, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “A Confederacy of Dunces,” to get his novel published after his suicide.

BreAnna Bell Lake Bell is expanding her production chops, joining the production shingle London Alley as a director. An actor known for series like “Childrens Hospital” and “Harley Quinn,” Bell has also branched out into production — most recently as the co-creator, executive producer, director and star of the comedy “Bless This Mess.” At London Alley, Bell will join with collaborator Luke Anderson, who has signed on as a partner and executive producer. “I’m excited to be continuing my relationship with London Alley and officially joining the team as a director,” said Bell in a statement. “It’s an exciting opportunity to have a lane to create a new genre of work in ads and creative, and I can’t think of a better collective to join.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has boarded Berlin Film Festival title “Measures of Men,” which focuses on the genocide committed by the German army against the Ovaherero and Nama tribes in Southwestern Africa. The trailer debuts (below). The film is written and directed by Lars Kraume, whose credits include Berlin’s “The Silent Revolution” and Toronto’s “The People vs. Fritz Bauer.” It stars Leonard Scheicher (“The Silent Revolution,” “Das Boot” TV series), Namibian actor Girley Charlene Jazama and “Toni Erdmann” star Peter Simonischek. The film has its world premiere on Feb. 22 in the Berlinale Special section, and will be released in Germany by Studiocanal in late March.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Writer-director Dustin Guy Defa has shared a first-look clip (below) of his feature comedy drama “The Adults,” which will have its world premiere Saturday at the Berlin Film Festival, with stars Michael Cera, Hannah Gross and Sophia Lillis, and Defa in attendance. The film, which is distributed worldwide by Universal Pictures Content Group, will be releasing internationally on July 3 and in the U.S. on July 4. In Berlin, it plays in the Encounters section. “The Adults” follows Eric (Cera) as he returns home for a short visit and finds himself caught between reuniting with his sisters and chasing a victory with his old poker group.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor New Europe Film Sales has closed several further distribution deals for animated feature “The Peasants,” the followup to Oscar nominee “Loving Vincent,” which grossed more than $50 million at the global box office. New sales include Benelux (Paradiso), the former Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom), Hungary (Vertigo), Portugal (Outsider Films), Turkey (Birfilm) and Scandinavia (Another World Entertainment). The company is in negotiations with buyers in Spain and the Baltics. U.K. and North America rights remain open. Key European sales previously closed include to Plaion in Germany and Jokers in France. “The Peasants,” which is directed by “Loving Vincent” filmmakers D.K. Welchman (formerly known as Dorota Kobiela) and Hugh Welchman, is being produced with the same painting technique as used in “Vincent.” The directors were inspired by a wide repertoire of realist and pre-impressionist paintings to depict the Nobel prize-winning novel of Wladyslaw Reymont on film. Set at the end of the 19th century, it tells a story of love and life in a small community, where rules and traditions dictate everyone’s role.