‘The Bad Guys’ Director Pierre Perifel Experiences A Joyous Homecoming at Annecy
variety.comJohn Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentAnnecy this year is all about innovation, in animation style – seen in the villain of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” unveiled on Monday – in Europe’s push into adult animation, and even in new ways of connecting with audiences, as DreamWorks Animation has demonstrated in a joyous and packed open air screening of “The Bad Guys.”A tradition at Annecy, the lakeside outdoor events usually serve to introduce new generations of Annecy kids and families to modern animation classics.
Under Marcel Jean’s artistic direction, these are becoming ever more recent. This year’s program takes in Illumination’s Sing 2” and Disney’s “Encanto,” which both bowed in November 2021. “The Bad Guys” is even more pristine, opening in France on April 6 to robust box office of $6.9 million through June 13, its fifth best box office result anywhere in international, behind China ($42,8 million), the U.K.
and Ireland ($16.4 million), Australia ($ 11.1 million) and Spain ($ 7.2 million).The outdoor screening took place to a packed audience running into four figures in Annecy’s Le Pâquier lakeside park.But breaking with another tradition, it took place pre-festival on its Sunday eve.For “The Bad Guys” director Pierre Perifel and production designer Luc Desmarchelier, who presented the film on stage at Annecy with head of character animation J.P.
Sand, the screening very much marked the return of prodigal sons.Both Perifel and Desmarchelier are French, the animated action comedy Perifel’s first feature, which has garnered not only robust B.O.
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