Neon has acquired North American rights to Bong Joon Ho‘s debut animated feature, Ally, slating it for release in 2027.

The project will mark the studio’s first with the filmmaker since his 2019 phenomenon Parasite, the first South Korean film to win an Oscar, which was also the first film to win both Best Picture and Best International Feature at the Academy Awards, additionally snagging the awards for Director and Original Screenplay, and grossing over $53 million in North America.

Ally follows a curious and endearing piglet squid of the same name that lives in the uncharted depths of the South Pacific Ocean. Ally dreams of one day seeing the sun and becoming the star of a wildlife documentary. But when a mysterious aircraft sinks into the ocean, her peaceful world is suddenly thrown into danger. Alongside her colorful and loyal — yet unlikely — companions, Ally is thrust into an extraordinary journey that will take her all the way to the surface.

In development since 2019, Ally marks Director Bong’s sixth collaboration with Neon CEO Tom Quinn. Financing and distribution are handled by CJ ENM, Penture Invest, and Pathé, with Barunson C&C overseeing production. Seo Woo-sik serves as producer on the film, in his third collaboration with Director Bong, following Mother and Okja. Director Bong penned the script with Jason Yu.

Neon SVP Acquisitions Sarah Colvin negotiated the deal for North American rights with WME on behalf of the filmmakers.

Pathé will handle the film’s distribution in France, Benelux, Switzerland and West Africa while CJ and Penture will distribute in South Korea, Vietnam, Turkey and Indonesia. Pathé reps international sales excluding Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, for which CJ and Penture are handling sales.

News of Ally‘s Noth American deal with Neon comes just ahead of Cannes, where the studio returns to competition with James Gray’s Paper Tiger, Arthur Harari’s The Unknown, Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden, Hirokazu Koreeda’s Sheep in the Box, and Na Hong-Jin’s Hope. In Directors’ Fortnight, they have Arie Esiri & Chuko Esiri’s Clarissa, a modern reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, and David Greaves’ Once Upon a Time in Harlem. Finally, there’s Nicolas Winding Refn’s Her Private Hell, which will screen out of competition.