Curzon Artificial Eye has acquired the stop-motion animated feature Anomalisa for the United Kingdom.
The U.K. deal for the feature, directed by award-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, comes a day after Paramount scooped up the domestic rights. The film has been well-received in screenings at the Venice and Toronto film festivals and is expected to be an awards season contender.
Anomalisa is the first animated foray for Kaufman, who wrote Being John Malkovich and wrote and directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The animation expertise came from co-director Johnson, whose directorial credits include Moral Orel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole, Beforel Orel and the 2010 animated Christmas episode of Community. Anomalisa is billed as a film about a man “crippled by the mundanity of his life” and his experiences within a bizarre hotel.
The film is produced by Starburns Industries and Snoot Entertainment and was partially funded through Kickstarter. The voice cast includes Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan and David Thewlis.