Following its one-week Academy Awards-qualifying run in November, French comics artist-turned-director Ugo Bienvenu’s award-winning animated feature Arco will commence its U.S. theatrical adventure at the start of the new year. Distributor Neon will open the hand-drawn film in New York City (AMC Lincoln, Angelika Film Center) and Los Angeles (AMC Century City, AMC Burbank) on January 23, followed by a nationwide rollout from January 30.
Arco has been sweeping audiences up in its visually enchanting time-travel fantasy since premiering at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The film went on to win the prestigious Cristal for feature film and SACEM Award for best soundtrack at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Recently, the film was named Best Animated Feature by the National Board of Review and has been recognized by numerous critics’ organizations.
As awards season ramps up, the Oscar contender has been nominated for Best Animated Feature by the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards and European Film Awards, where animated features are eligible for the best European Film prize and Arco is additionally nominated for the Young Audience Award.
Synopsis: A 10-year-old boy from a peaceful, distant future accidentally travels back to the year 2075 and discovers a world in peril. As Arco develops a charming and touching friendship with a young girl named Iris, they band together and along with her trusted robot caretaker Mikki, set out on a quest to get Arco home, while the two children may also be the only ones who can save our planet.
The English-language voice cast is led by six-time Emmy winner Will Ferrell (Barbie, Despicable Me 4), Oscar nominee America Ferrera (Barbie, Dragons: Race to the Edge), Flea (Baby Driver, Transformers: EarthSpark), Oscar winner Natalie Portman (Black Swan, The Twits), four-time Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things, Marvel’s What If…?) and Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Digman!), with Juliano Krue Valdi (The Loud House) as Arco.
The film is directed by Bienvenu; written by Bienvenu and Félix de Givry; and produced by Bienvenu and de Givry for Remembers, Natalie Portman and Sophie Mas for mountainA.
[Source: Deadline]
