Jul 22, 2024

Viva Pictures acquires North American rights to “Grand Prix of Europe”.

Viva Pictures has acquired the North American rights to the animated feature Grand Prix of Europe.

The film's story follows Edda, a young mouse obsessed with racing cars, who disguises herself as Ed, her idol, and competes in the Grand Prix on his behalf in order to save her family's amusement park. The film is tied in with Europa-Park, a German theme park that will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year. The theme park has won the Golden Ticket Award eight times as the world's best amusement park.

Produced by Mack Magic and animated by Mack Animation (“Animals United,” “Monster Family” franchise), the film is distributed by Warner Bros. Discovery in Europe, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland. North America theatrically by Viva in the summer of 2025, in conjunction with major markets including Germany, Austria and Switzerland, distributed by Warner Bros.

The voice cast is led by Gemma Arterton and Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who will voice the park's key mascots Edda and Ed for the first time. Other voices include Hayley Atwell and British comedian Lenny Henry.

“We are delighted to be working with Timeless Films again on this acquisition,” said Victor Elizalde, CEO of Viva Pictures. It's a particularly active time for us as we continue to expand our portfolio with innovative and visually spectacular stories that resonate with all audiences.” Grand Prix of Europe not only embodies the spirit of adventure and the joy of chasing dreams, it does so in a package of humor and high-speed action.”

Michael Mack, CEO of Mack One and the eighth generation of the family to run the theme park business, added, “We have been bringing joy to people for over 245 years with the rides and attractions we manufacture and sell around the world, and Viva is a great addition to our vision. We are more than happy to add to it and that North Americans will not only smile at Mack's attractions, but also watch our movies."

Viva Pictures recently launched a two-for-one movie ticket promotion for children, increasing the pace of family-oriented CG animation releases in the US. This year, the company has already released “Dragon Keeper” and “Epic Tales” in theaters, with titles such as “200% Wolf” and “Scary Girl” coming later this year. Last year, “Amazing Maurice” was a hit, grossing $4.3 million at the domestic box office.