Apr 17, 2024

Academy Award-nominated feature film "Robot Dreams" gets a U.S. release date

Indie distributor Neon will release "Robot Dreams," a wistful and lovely hand-drawn Spanish animation based on the graphic novel by Sarah Vallon and directed and written by Pablo Berger, on May 31.

"Robot Dreams" will open the same day at the Film Forum and AMC Lincoln Square in New York City, followed by other cities in June; Neon has not provided further details on how quickly or widely the film will roll out in the U.S. Neon has no further details on how quickly or widely the film will roll out in the U.S. The film, which has no dialogue, is Berger's first animated feature. He is widely known for his live-action films, most notably "Blancanieves," a peculiar 2012 adaptation of the "Snow White" fairy tale.

Berger's new film, about a lonely dog in Manhattan who makes a robot best friend, received phenomenal critical acclaim. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and won an Annie Award for Best Independent Feature, a European Film Award for Best Animated Feature, multiple Goya Awards for Best Animated Feature and Adapted Screenplay, and the Annecy Contrescien Grand Prix.

Critical response has not necessarily translated into box office success for the $6 million film. The film's worldwide box office is $3.3 million, but it is still awaiting release in a number of international markets. To date, the top market is Mexico ($2.2 million).

One of the biggest hurdles distributors of the film will have to overcome is its raw looks. While the film is the work of an affluent auteur and is probably most meaningful to older audiences, its colorful visual style screams youth, and the average audience may conclude that it is a standard children's film. Director Pablo Berger, in an interview with Cartoon Brew last fall, talked about how people have received the film:

For us, the film was never a children's film. Sarah's book was not for children either. Of course, children would enjoy the film because it is designed and colored for children, but we never thought of adding anything or omitting anything for children. For me, the most important audience for any film is myself. It may sound selfish and self-centered, but I make every film with myself as the main target, and next to me the most important thing is the team I work with.

"Robot Dreams" is a Spanish-French co-production between Arcadia Motion Pictures (Spain), Noodles Productions (France), and Les Films du Wolso (France).