Bong Joon Ho Teams Up with ‘Parasite’ Distributor Neon for His First Animated Film, ‘Ally’
Neon has secured North American rights to Bong Joon Ho’s debut animated feature, Ally, which is set for release in 2027.
This project marks a return to collaboration between the studio and the acclaimed filmmaker since his award-winning film, Parasite, which made history as the first South Korean film to take home an Oscar. Parasite also garnered wins for Best Picture and Best International Feature at the Academy Awards, along with awards for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, and earned over $53 million in North America.
Ally tells the story of an inquisitive piglet squid living in the unexplored depths of the South Pacific Ocean. Ally dreams of experiencing sunlight and becoming a star in a wildlife documentary. However, her serene existence is disrupted when a mysterious aircraft sinks into her underwater world, thrusting her and her diverse companions into a perilous adventure that leads them to the ocean’s surface.
In development since 2019, Ally is the sixth collaboration between Director Bong and Neon CEO Tom Quinn. The film’s financing and distribution are being managed by CJ ENM, Penture Invest, and Pathé, while production is overseen by Barunson C&C. Producer Seo Woo-sik returns for his third partnership with Bong following the films Mother and Okja. Bong co-wrote the screenplay with Jason Yu.
Watch on Deadline
Sarah Colvin, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions at Neon, negotiated the North American rights deal with WME on behalf of the filmmakers.
Pathé will handle distribution in France, Benelux, Switzerland, and West Africa, while CJ and Penture manage distribution in South Korea, Vietnam, Turkey, and Indonesia. Pathé oversees international sales, excluding Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, for which CJ and Penture are responsible.
The announcement of Ally’s North American acquisition comes just ahead of the Cannes Film Festival, where Neon will compete with titles including James Gray’s Paper Tiger, Arthur Harari’s The Unknown, Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden, Hirokazu Koreeda’s Sheep in the Box, and Na Hong-Jin’s Hope. In Directors’ Fortnight, the studio is presenting Arie Esiri & Chuko Esiri’s Clarissa, a contemporary interpretation of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, alongside David Greaves’ Once Upon a Time in Harlem and Nicolas Winding Refn’s Her Private Hell, which will screen out of competition.
