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Tim Harper’s animated film Ozi: Voice of the Forest tells the story of a young orangutan on a journey of discovery. After losing her home in a forest fire, Ozi is raised in an animal sanctuary and learns to communicate using sign language and video posts online. She becomes something of an influencer, spreading messages about environmental threats.

When Ozi finds out her biological parents may still be alive, it sets her on a path to reunite with them. Along the way, she is helped by Chance, the mischievous monkey, and Honkus, the enthusiastic rhino.

Their adventure takes them into remnants of the forest and an artificial “paradise” that’s not as it seems. Faced with the harsh reality of deforestation and a company blamed for the fires, Ozi realizes her voice can make a difference in exposing the truth.

Harper’s film captures the wonder of nature through vivid animation.

Tommy Harper, a producer on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, believes that the juice could get loose one more time to round out a potential trilogy. Tim Burton's long-awaited follow-up has produced wild numbers at the box office, still maintaining the No.1 spot at the domestic box office, warding off the recently released Transformers One. A third installment in the franchise hasn't yet been confirmed by Warner Bros. or Tim Burton, but Harper says the door will always be open for Burton to complete the trilogy. Speaking to Deadline, Tommy Harper believes that Tim Burton will want to make a third movie in the Beetlejuice franchise.

"I think with Tim's love for the title and the characters, the door is open, but we'll see what happens next," Harper said.

Tim Harper has been a long-time collaborator with Tim Burton, as the pair first worked together on the underrated 2003 movie Big Fish (starring...

Disney blockbuster Alien: Romulus crawls into 676 cinemas at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, as the first title in the franchise since 2017’s Alien: Covenant.

Directed by Fede Alvarez, Alien: Romulus is set between the events of 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens, and sees a group of young space colonists scavenging a derelict space station and coming face-to-face with a xenomorph alien.

Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues wrote the script, based on characters by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. Civil War and Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny leads the cast, alongside Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced and Screen Stars of Tomorrow David Jonsson and Spike Fearn.

Exclusive: Ketchup Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Ozi, Voice of the Forest, an animated feature produced by Appian Way Productions, Mike Medavoy and Gci Film, which features a voice cast led by Amandla Stenberg.

World premiering at last year’s Annecy Animation Film Festival, the film is slated for a wide theatrical rollout later this year.

The film, directed by Tim Harper, follows Ozi (Stenberg), an orphan orangutan who uses her influencer skills to save her forest and home from deforestation.

Intended to raise awareness around the issues our planet’s rainforests face due to growing levels of deforestation, and how this affects ecosystems and climate change, the film also features the voices of Dean Charles Chapman, Djimon Hounsou, Donald Sutherland, Laura Dern, RuPaul Charles, and Urzila Carlson. Intended as the first film in a climate-themed franchise, to be followed by Ocean — a film now in development — it...

Ozi: Voice of the Forest, the star-studded animated feature produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, has been picked up by Signature Entertainment for the U.K. and Ireland.

The film, produced by Gci Film and Appian Way, features the vocal talents of Laura Dern (Marriage Story), Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games), Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond), RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Dean Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones) and Rachel Shenton (All Creatures Great and Small).

Directed by Tim Harper (Roary the Racing Car) from a screenplay by Ricky Roxburgh (Tangled) and with animation by French studio Mikros, the feature follows a young orangutan who’s separated from her parents. Growing up in an animal sanctuary, she uses her influencer skills to save her parents and home from deforestation. The movie will carry the Climate Change Stripes created by Professor Ed Hawkins and Reading University, designed to visualize climate change and spark conversation.

Medavoy tells Screen about the film’s two concerns: environmentalism and artificial intelligence.

Gfm Animation has secured key territory deals including France on Ozi – Voice Of The Forest, which had its world premiere at Annecy International Animation Film Festival this week.

Following its market launch at Cannes last month, the film has secured sales for France (Kmbo), Switzerland (Praesens), Cis (Volga), Poland (Kinoswiat), former Yugoslavia (Investacommerce), South Korea (Korea Screen), Vietnam (Blue Lantern), South Africa (FilmFinity), Turkey (Filmarti), the Middle East (Ecs), Israel and Greece (Tanweer), Portugal (Pris) and Iceland (Myndform).

Deals for the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain are all in negotiation.

The event showcases UK titles and UK sales companies to mainly European buyers.

Animated features Kensuke’s Kingdom, an adaptation of a Michael Morpurgo novel directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry.and sold by Bankside, and Tim Harper’s Ozi - Voice Of The Forest, about an orphan orangutang, that is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way and sold by Gfm, are among the high-profile projects that will screen to distributors at this year’s London Screenings.

The three-day event will take place at Picturehouse Central in Piccadilly Circus from June 19 - 21 2023,

UK and international sales companies will be...

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 2023 edition, running from June 11 to 17.

More than 13,000 animation professionals are set to descend on the French festival’s lakeside setting for its traditional mix of screenings programs across all formats, Work-in-Progress and First-Look sneak peeks, and presentations going behind the scenes of upcoming animation productions.

Competition title Sirocco And The Kingdom Of The Winds by French director Benoît Chieux opens the festival. The fantasy follows the adventures of two young sisters as they try to make their way home after getting trapped in the world of their favorite book.

A Cat In Paris and Phantom Boy director Alain Gagnol co-wrote the screenplay for the feature lead produced by Paris-based Sacrebleu Productions.

The film, which world premieres in Annecy, is among 11 titles competing for the festival’s Crystal award.

Another three French productions debut in Competition: Chiara Malta and...

Laura Dern (Jurassic World Dominion) and Liam Hemsworth (Poker Face) have signed on to star in the film Lonely Planet, which Susannah Grant (Unbelievable) is writing and directing for Netflix.

Lonely Planet is billed as a love story set in Morocco. Specifics with regard to its plot are being kept under wraps. Grant is also producing alongside Sarah Timberman and Liza Chasin for 3dot Productions, with VP Studio Film Kira Goldberg serving as creative lead for Netflix.

The film continues the creative partnership between Netflix and 3dot, which has thus far produced the streamer’s upcoming thriller series, Anatomy of a Scandal, based on the book by Sarah Vaughan. 3dot entered into a multi-year, first-look film deal with Netflix in 2019, with adaptations of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestseller The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Diane Cardwell’s memoir Rockaway also upcoming.

Grant is an Oscar- and three-time Emmy nominee...

Amandla Stenberg, Laura Dern, Donald Sutherland, Djimon Hounsou, RuPaul and Dean-Charles Chapman are set join the ensemble cast of the upcoming animated pic Ozi. Stenberg will voice the film’s title character, Dern will voice her mother, Sutherland will voice and albino crocodile, Hounsou voices Ozi’s father, Chapman voices Chance, Ozi’s guide and RuPaul voices Gurd, Mr Smiley’s son and heir.

The film focusses on deforestation in the Indonesian rainforest, following the story of a teenage orangutan, Ozi, who is orphaned when her forest home is burnt down. It was created by the brains behind the children’s television global smash and recent movie Paw Patrol, Keith Chapman, whose creations have grossed $15.4 Billion.

Mike Medavoy and Appian Way Productions are co-producing the movie.

“It is a real pleasure to be part of Ozi, a film which has brought together creative minds from across the globe – spearheaded by...