Open Road Films has acquired all U.S. distribution rights to the 3D animated family film The Nut Job and set January 17, 2014 as the release date. The announcement was made today by Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films and Hoe-jin Ha, CEO and President of Redrover Co., Ltd.
Featuring the voice talents of Liam Neeson, Katherine Heigl, Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Stephen Lang, Sarah Gadon and Jeff Dunham, The Nut Job is an action-packed comedy in fictional Oakton that follows the travails of Surly (voiced by Will Arnett), a mischievous squirrel, and his rat friend Buddy, who plan a nut store heist of outrageous proportions and unwittingly find themselves embroiled in a much more complicated and hilarious adventure.
Directed by Peter Lepeniotis from a screenplay by Lorne Cameron and Lepeniotis, The Nut Job is produced by Graham Moloy and WK Jung. Executive producers are Mike Karz and Bill Bindley of Gulfstream Pictures, Jay Ahn, Daniel Woo, Hong Kim and Tom Yoon. The Nut Job is a collaboration between ToonBox Entertainment, Redrover Co., Ltd. and Gulfstream Pictures. The film is based on director/co-writer Peter Lepeniotis 2005 short film Surly Squirrel.
’The Nut Job’ is a smart, fresh and funny movie that family members of all ages will certainly enjoy,” stated Ortenberg. “We are excited about working with Mike Karz and ‘The Nut Job’ team and thrilled to add this clever family title to Open Roads growing slate.
Jay Ahn, ToonBox Entertainments adviser and executive producer, said: It was a long journey for an independent animation studio to secure a wide-release distribution in the U.S., but we have made it. This historic collaborative production between Korea and Canada marks the first such CGI movie in history to be released widely in the U.S. I am thrilled that ‘The Nut Job’ will be distributed by Open Road Films, the fastest growing domestic distribution company in the U.S., a joint venture of AMC Entertainment and Regal Entertainment Group.
