Neon reunites with acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda for “Sheep in the Box.” The indie label acquired the US, UK and Australian rights to the highly anticipated film from the American film market.
“Sheep in the Box,” which is currently being filmed, stars Haruka Ayase, who appeared in Kore-eda’s drama “My Little Sister,” and DAIGO, who is making his feature debut with this film. “Neon” is scheduled for release in the United States.
The film is produced by Fuji Television, Gaga Corporation, Toho, and AOI Pro. Gaga served as international sales representative with Goodfellas and negotiated the contract with Neon’s Sarah Colvin.
“Sheep in the Box” is set in the near future, where a couple welcomes a state-of-the-art humanoid robot into their home as their son. The film’s title was inspired by the French children’s novel The Little Prince.
Neon previously co-starred with Kore-eda in The Broker, which had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and won the Ecumenical Jury Award and Best Actor Award for Song Kang-ho.
Kore-eda’s films include the 2018 Palme d’Or winner and Oscar-nominated film “Shoplifters,” and Cannes Prize-winning films such as “And I Became a Father,” which won the Jury Prize. “Monster” won Best Original Screenplay and the Queer Palm Award. Yuya Yagira won the Best Actor Award for “Nobody Knows.”
Neon has recently made a string of high-profile acquisitions, including Baz Luhrmann’s Epic: Elvis Presley in Concert and Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers, both of which are scheduled for release in 2026. Other upcoming releases include Hugo Bienvenue’s award-winning Arco, co-starring Natalie Portman.
The company is also behind five official submissions to this year’s Oscar international feature race. Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winning film “It Was Just an Accident” was released on October 15th and is one of France’s leading films. The Cannes Film Festival award-winning film “The Secret Agent” directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, from Brazil, will be released on November 26th. Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” was released on December 25th and represents Korea. and “Sirât” by Spain’s Oliver Lacks.
