LOS
ANGELES, Oct. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --
Cineverse (NASDAQ: CNVS) announced today that
the Company has acquired all North American rights to Junta
Yamaguchi's time loop comedy River following its
Fantastic Fest showing in Austin,
TX. The Company plans to release the film on its streaming
service AsianCrush in early 2024. The film, which premiered
at Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in July,
was also screened at the 56th Sitges Fantastic Film Festival in
Spain this month.
River follows the Fujiya Inn in the small
wintery village of Kibune that finds its routine upended when its
guests and employees end up repeating the same two minutes. While
trying to find the source of the time loop, characters confront
discontentment with their employment, mortality, and the impending
end of a relationship. Approaching themes of Japanese hospitality,
small-town regret, and spirituality, this is a movie with plenty of
laughs and big ideas.
The film stars Riko Fujitani,
Yoshimasa Kondo, Shiori Kubo, Munenori
Nagano and Yuki Torigoe.
Written by Makoto Ueda and directed
by Junta Yamaguchi. The film is the follow-up feature to
Yamaguchi's Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, a surprise
smash on the international festival circuit in 2021. The deal
for River was negotiated between Third Window
Films' Adam Torel and Cineverse's
Selin Kilic.
Slashfilm says "River is the mark of a filmmaker who's no
one-trick anything — it's a sublime temporal comedy that audiences
should not miss." While Film School Rejects calls it a "Sweet
Palate Cleanser for the Soul."
"Third Window Films are happy to once again work with Cineverse
on another of our unique and standout Japanese films" said
Adam Torel from Third Window Films.
"Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes was a resounding success worldwide
and I'm sure Cineverse will enable Yamaguchi's latest time-twisting
adventure to reach an even larger audience!"
"After its stellar festival run, we're thrilled to bring Junta
Yamaguchi's wonderfully cozy sci-fi film to our passionate
community of Asian film fans" says Katie
Cannon, who manages AsianCrush in her role as Director at
Cineverse Networks. "The infectious, genre-bending energy of this
film has the power to break through cultural barriers and appeal to
audiences of every taste."
"I'm delighted that my film, RIVER, has found a home in
North America from AsianCrush and
Cineverse. AsianCrush's audience has great taste and I hope they
enjoy my offbeat time loop comedy fantasy" said director Junta
Yamaguchi.
AsianCrush brings the best of pan-Asian entertainment to
the West, bridging language and cultural gaps to broaden the
horizons of North American audiences beyond Hollywood. Its streaming library features
premium content from Korea, Japan,
China, Thailand and more — a one-stop shop to watch
everything from award-winning films and blockbuster hits to iconic
TV dramas and anime. With a social media community 10.8 million
followers strong, AsianCrush is curated for the rapidly growing
fandom of Asian media & pop culture. AsianCrush can be found
live across most mobile, CTV and smart TV devices, plus the
web.
The North American rights acquisition deal for "River" was
helmed by Adam Torel of Third Window
Films and Selin Kilic of
Cineverse.
ABOUT CINEVERSE (NASDAQ: CNVS)
Cineverse's advanced, proprietary technology drives the
distribution of over 70,000 premium films, series, and podcasts to
more than 150 million unique viewers monthly. From providing a
complete streaming solution to some of the world's most
recognizable brands, to super-serving their own network of fan
channels, Cineverse is powering the future of Entertainment. For
more information, please visit www.cineverse.com.
For additional information, please contact:
For Media
The Lippin Group for Cineverse
cineverse@lippingroup.com
For Investors
Julie Milstead
investorrelations@cineverse.com
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SOURCE Cineverse Corp.