EXTRAORDINARY TALES Animation Gets October Release Date

Five of Edgar Allen Poe’s best-known stories are brought to vivid life in this heart-pounding, visually stunning animated anthology featuring Sir Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi, Guillermo del Toro, Roger Corman and Julian Sands. Murderous madmen, sinister villains and cloaked ghouls stalk the darkened corridors of Poe’s imagination, as his haunting tales are given a terrifying new twist by some of the most beloved figures in horror film history.

GKIDS, a distributor of award-winning animation for both adult and family audiences, announced its acquisition of North American rights to EXTRAORDINARY TALES, an animated film anthology of five of Edgar Allen Poe’s best-known stories. The film, which features the voices of Sir Christopher Lee (in one of his final film performances), Bela Lugosi, Julian Sands, Roger Corman, and Guillermo Del Toro, screens throughout this week at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. GKIDS plans a day-and-date release on October 30, in theaters and on video-on-demand platforms. The deal was negotiated between Stephan Roelants for Melusine Productions and Eric Beckman for GKIDS.

“We are thrilled to be back in business with Stephan and Melusine Productions after our work together on Ernest & Celestine and Song of the Sea,” said David Jesteadt, GKIDS’ SVP of Distribution. “Extraordinary Tales takes on the classic late-night horror anthology format with the full visual inventiveness that only animation allows, and we can’t wait to share it with audiences in the fall.”

EXTRAORDINARY TALES, directed by Raúl García, is a film anthology of five of Edgar Allen Poe’s best-known stories, each told in a unique graphic style and featuring some of the most beloved figures in horror film history. Adapting the look and variety of a classic horror anthology, EXTRAORDINARY TALES offers heart-pounding takes on The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar, and The Masque of the Red Death, with animation inspired by sources as diverse as classic Hollywood black-and-white monster films, or the pulpy feel of EC Comics. The stories are narrated by a stable of legendary genre directors and actors, including Sir Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi, Julian Sands, Roger Corman, and Guillermo Del Toro. The film is written and directed by Raúl García, produced by Stephan Roelants, and co-produced by Raúl García, Rocio Ayuso, Serge Ume, and Isabelle Truc.