In news coming out of Cannes, it has been announced that The Weinstein Company has acquired the international rights to animated film The Guardian Brothers.
Deadline is reporting that the film, which was released in China earlier in the year as The Little Door Gods, is set to have an eclectic voice-cast including Oscar winners Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins) and Nicole Kidman (The Secret in their Eyes) as well as Mel Brooks (Hotel Transylvania) and Zendaya (Spider-Man: Homecoming).
On the deal, Harvey Weinstein said: “I’ve loved working with our Beijing partners Light Chaser Animation. I’m determined to build our animation division for film and television. This is going to be a huge area for our company and The Guardian Brothers is just the beginning of our plan to bring the caliber of film associated with TWC to animation.”
Gary Wang, the film’s director, also said: “We are thrilled that Harvey and the Weinstein team share our enthusiasm for this very Chinese film. It has been amazing working with them. I feel that our story has found a perfect home, and hope that the families around the world will enjoy the film.”
The film “follows a Chinese family in danger of losing its family owned business – a wonton soup shop that’s been passed down generation after generation for hundreds of years. When the family’s grandmother passes away, the restaurant is left in the hands of a little girl named Raindrop (Zendaya) and her mother (Kidman). Millions of miles away in the Spirit World, we meet The Guardians – who have watched over and protected the humans on Earth for centuries. Times are tough up in the Spirit World and two brother Guardians are forced to retire from the business they’ve loved since the beginning of time. Back down on Earth, Raindrop and her mom are fending off a rival soup shop owner’s attempt to sabotage the family restaurant. When the retired Guardian brothers find out, they spring into action.”
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Originally published May 6, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.
