Bong Joon Ho’s First Animated Feature ‘Ally,’ With a Voice Cast Including Bradley Cooper and Ayo Edebiri, Sell Globally for Pathé (EXCLUSIVE)

Bong Joon-Ho’s first animated feature has proved a hit with international buyers, securing multiple deals for Pathé.

“Ally,” which launched at the Marche du Film, had already been acquired by Neon for the U.S. prior to Cannes, reuniting the Oscar-winning director with the distributor following their hugely successful collaboration on “Parasite,” which won the Palme d’Or and four Academy Awards.

The latest sales on the picture include I Wonder Pictures (Italy), Plaion (Germany), YouPlanet Pictures (Spain), Madman Entertainment (Australia & New Zealand), The Searchers (Benelux), Pathé Films AG (Switzerland), Monolith Films (Poland), Feelgood Entertainment (Greece), Cinemundo (Portugal), Nachshon Films (Israel), Blitz Film & Video Distribution (Former Yugoslavia), Arthouse Traffic (Ukraine), A-One Films (CIS), Kino Pavasaris Distribution (Baltics), Vertical Entertainment (Eastern Europe, excluding Poland and the Former Yugoslavia), Marhudar Entertainment (Middle East & India), Shinesaeng Ad.Venture (Thailand), 66CC (Taiwan), and Filmbridge Mongolia (Mongolia).

Meanwhile, Penture Invest has also closed deals for Japan (Bitters End), Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films).

Set in the uncharted depths of the South Pacific Ocean, “Ally” centers around a curious and endearing piglet squid, who dream of one day seeing the sun and becoming the star of a wildlife documentary. But when a mysterious aircraft sinks into the ocean, her peaceful world is suddenly thrown into danger. Alongside her colorful and loyal — yet unlikely — companions, Ally is thrust into an extraordinary journey that will take her all the way to the surface.

The film boasts an A-list lineup for its English language voice cast, with stars including Ayo Edebiri, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Finn Wolfhard, Rachel House and Werner Herzog. Voicing Ally is Alex Jayne Go.

“Ally” also brings together leading creative talents from 12 countries, including animation supervisor Jae Hyung Kim (“Toy Story 4,” “Inside Out”), supervising producer David Lipman (“Shrek” franchise), production designer Marcin Jakubowski (“Klaus”) and DNEG, the VFX studio behind “Inception” and “Dune.”

The film is financed by CJ ENM, Penture Invest and Pathé, with production overseen by Barunson C&C and producer Seo Woo-sik. It is currently in production and will be released theatrically worldwide in 2027.

Pathé will handle distribution in France, Benelux, Switzerland and West Africa while CJ and Penture will distribute in South Korea, Vietnam, Turkey and Indonesia.