GKIDS has successfully acquired the North American theatrical distribution rights to acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Alberto Vázquez’s genre-bending adult-animated film Unicorn Wars, which is being described as “Bambi meets Apocalypse Now.” It is expected to make its U.S. premiere at the upcoming Fantastic Fest, which will be followed by its domestic release in early 2023.
“There is nobody on Earth who could make a film like Unicorn Wars except Alberto Vázquez,” GKIDS President David Jesteadt said in a statement. “We are proud to partner again with this exceptional filmmaker on his richly layered and darkly funny new film about cute characters doing horrific things. It continues to haunt me.”
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Unicorn Wars is a Spanish-French animated horror-comedy directed and written by Goya and Annecy Cristal-winning director Alberto Vázquez. This marks the latest collaboration between Vázquez and GKIDS following the local distribution of the director’s Birdboy: The Forgotten Children and short film Decorado.
“The film is a provocative and strangely beautiful horror comedy, who uses its outrageous candy-colored premise to explore religious zealotry, the tortured legacies of military fascism, and the depths of the soul,” reads the synopsis. “For ages, teddy bears have been locked in an ancestral war against their sworn enemy, the unicorns, with the promise that victory will complete the prophecy and usher in a new era. Aggressive, confident teddy bear Bluet and his sensitive, withdrawn brother Tubby could not be more different. As the rigors and humiliation of teddy bear bootcamp turn to the psychedelic horrors of a combat tour in the Magic Forest, their complicated history and increasingly strained relationship will come to determine the fate of the entire war.
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Unicorn Wars is executive produced by Chelo Loureiro, Iván Miñambres, and Nicolas Schmerkin.
