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Sony Pictures Classics announced today they have acquired all rights in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Scandinavia, India, Middle East, Turkey, Southeast Asia (excluding Taiwan and South Korea) and airlines within those territories to Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal’s upcoming Bossa Nova-themed animated film, “They Shot the Piano Player.”

Sony Classics plans to release the film at the end of the year to qualify for year-end awards consideration.

A true international production, the film is produced by Cristina Huete of Trueba PC (“Chico & Rita”) in Spain, along with Serge Lalou for Les Films d’Ici (“Josep”) in France, Janneke van de Kerkhof for Submarine Sublime (“Buñuel in the Labyrinth of Turtles”) in the Netherlands, and Humberto Santana in Portugal. It is executive produced by Nano Arrieta of Atlantika and Fabien Westerhoff of Film Constellation.

From Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, who previously directed the Oscar-nominated “Chico & Rita,...

Sony Pictures Classics has picked up rights to the animated feature They Shot the Piano Player for the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Scandinavia, India, the Middle East, Turkey, Southeast Asia (excluding Taiwan and South Korea) and airlines within the aforementioned territories. The film from Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, two of the directors behind the Oscar-nominated animated feature Chico and Rita, is set up for a fall awards push from SPC.

Narrated by Jeff Goldblum, They Shot the Piano Player follows a New York music journalist who goes on a quest to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of young Brazilian piano virtuoso Tenorio Jr. A celebratory origin story of the world-renowned Latino musical movement Bossa Nova, the film captures a fleeting time bursting with creative freedom at a turning point in Latin American history in the ’60s and ’70s, just before the continent was engulfed by totalitarian regimes.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the North American rights to the animated feature They Shot the Piano Player from Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, the duo behind Oscar nominee Chico & Rita. The plan is for an awards season release.

The company also acquired the rights for the film in Latin America, Scandinavia, India, the Middle East, Turkey, Southeast Asia (excluding Taiwan and South Korea) and for airlines within those territories

The Bossa Nova-themed animation is narrated by Jeff Goldblum and follows a New York music journalist, who goes on a quest to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of young Brazilian piano virtuoso Tenorio Jr. The rest of the synopsis reads: “A celebratory origin story of the world-renowned Latino musical movement Bossa Nova, the film captures a fleeting time bursting with creative freedom at a turning point in Latin American history in the ’60s and ’70s, just before the...

Director Fernando Trueba and artist Javier Mariscal previously collaborated on Oscar-nominated ‘Chico & Rita’.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all rights in the US and key territories around the world to They Shot The Piano Player, the highly-anticipated animation from Spanish director Fernando Trueba and artist Javier Mariscal, who previously collaborated on the Oscar-nominated Chico & Rita.

In a deal with Film Constellation, SPC has also secured all rights for Canada, Latin America, Scandinavia, India, Middle East, Turkey, Southeast Asia (excluding Taiwan and South Korea) and airlines within those territories. The distributor plans to qualify the film for year-end awards.