LOS ANGELES & PROVO, Utah–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Angel, a media and technology company successfully pioneering a first-of-its-kind audience-driven studio model, has acquired US rights from AGC Studios to FING!, based on the international best-selling children’s book. The film stars Academy Award® winner, Taika Waititi (Time Bandits, Our Flag Means Death), Mia Wasikowska (Club Zero, Alice In Wonderland), Richard Roxburgh (Elvis, Prosper), Penelope Wilton (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Downton) Blake Harrison (World On Fire and I Hate Suzie Too), Robyn Nevin (Sting, The End), newcomer Iona Bell (upcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping) and Matt Lucas (Little Britain, Doctor Who) as the voice of Fing. FING! will have a wide U.S. theatrical release in early 2027.
Librarians Mr. and Mrs. Meek, (Harrison and Wasikowska) dote on their daughter, Myrtle (Bell) and will do anything to keep her happy but she always wants MORE! When Myrtle demands a Fing, her parents embark on a perilous jungle quest, racing to claim the creature before a ruthless animal park owner, The Viscount (Waititi) can seize it for himself.
“FING! Is exactly the kind of fantastical, joy-filled adventure the Angel Guild was made to champion,” said David Fischer, vice president of acquisitions and business affairs. “When our community of families vote with this level of enthusiasm, we listen. We couldn’t be more excited to bring it to audiences across America alongside our partners at AGC Studios.”
Stuart Ford added, “We and our partners on “FING!” are tremendously excited at the prospect of Angel Studios demonstrating their proven reach with family audiences across America and bringing their uniquely targeted releasing approach to the film which has unfailingly charmed audiences everywhere we’ve played it.”
The ambitious fantasy feature film is led by a world-class creative team. Multi-award-winner Jeffrey Walker (Apple Cider Vinegar, The Portable Door, The Artful Dodger) directs from a screenplay by Emmy Award winner Kevin Cecil (Veep, Gnomeo & Juliet) and three-time BAFTA award winner, David Walliams based on his original book. The film is an Australian UK co-production, produced by Jo Sargent from London-based King Bert Productions, and Todd Fellman from Queensland’s Story Bridge Films. Executive producers are Walliams, Craig McMahon, Kevin Cecil, Yvonne Sellins, Stuart Ford, Miguel A. Palos Jr., Aghi D. Koh, Andrew Orr, Julia Stuart, Janay Carrott and Shana Levine.
AGC Studios co-financed and are handling worldwide sales; Transmission Films will release theatrically in ANZ, with Stan premiering as a Stan Original on SVOD. Sky also financed and will premiere the film in the UK as a Sky Original on Sky Cinema. Additional financing was provided by Elevate Production Finance and Bondit Media Capital.
FING! had its World Premiere as a family showcase title at the Sundance Film Festival where it received a standing ovation. The festival team said, “In this lively, magical adventure, the cutely monstrous Fing is both a fantastical furball friend and a hurricane of hijinks. Myrtle, warmly and energetically portrayed by Iona Bell, is an equally matched complement to the Fing’s chaotic force, as her parents, played by Mia Wasikowska and Blake Harrison, haphazardly yet lovingly pick up the pieces. Taika Waititi dazzles as the larger-than-life viscount, a cartoonish villain amid a menagerie of eccentric animals.” They added, “Imbued with a characteristically British wit and vibrance, Fing! is just as funny as it is heartwarming — a colorful, charming delight for audiences of all ages.”
FING! joins Angel’s diverse upcoming theatrical slate featuring a wide range of values-driven stories, including Young Washington, a historical epic starring Golden Globe Award winners Kelsey Grammer and Mary-Louise Parker, Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley, and William Franklyn-Miller; The Brink of War, a Cold War drama starring Jeff Daniels, Jared Harris, and Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons; and Runner, an action-packed thriller starring Owen Wilson and Alan Ritchson.
About ANGEL
Angel (NYSE: ANGX) is a media and technology company successfully pioneering a first-of-its-kind audience-driven studio model. Founded by brothers who struggled to find films they could watch with their children, Angel was built on the belief that there was a global audience hungry for values-driven storytelling that amplifies light, celebrates hope, and inspires the moral imagination of viewers. That audience became the Angel Guild, a rapidly growing community of more than 2 million paying members who watch, screen, and vote on which films and television series get produced and distributed in theaters and on the Angel app. With 100 films and more than 30 television series on the platform, Angel has achieved the highest audience satisfaction scores in the industry and the highest average domestic box office per title among all independent studios. It has done so while evolving a new economic model that shares profits more fully with filmmakers. For more information, visit www.angel.com.
About AGC STUDIOS
With more than 50 film and TV productions since its launch in 2018, Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios is well established as one of the most prolific and diversified independent content companies in the industry. AGC Studios is currently in post-production on Lauren Miller Rogen’s Babies starring Anna Kendrick and Seth Rogen and on Ellie Foumbi’s erotic thriller Fleur starring Halle Berry. AGC is in pre-production on J Blakeson’s Sweat starring Ana de Armas. AGC Television has just wrapped production on Embassy, a geo-political action thriller series starring Anna Kendrick, Sam Heughan and J.K. Simmons, and is currently shooting Beatles biopic series Hamburg Days. AGC recently produced MGM+ mystery thriller series Vanished, starring Kaley Cuoco and Sam Claflin.
Recent releases include Ron Howard’s psychological thriller Eden, starring Ana De Armas, Jude Law, Sydney Sweeney, Vanessa Kirby and Daniel Brühl; and Charlie Polinger’s debut feature The Plague starring Joel Edgerton which was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards including Best Picture and won Best Breakthrough Performance (Kayo Martin). Upcoming May releases include Rowan Athale’s thrilling boxing drama Giant, starring Pierce Brosnan and Amir El-Masry which had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, and Bobby Farrelly’s teen road trip comedy Driver’s Ed starring Kumail Nanjiani, Molly Shannon and Sam Nivola, from producers Jonas and Jennifer Pate which premiered at TIFF.
Other recent AGC highlights include Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, which premiered as the #1 film on Netflix in the US; Justin Kurzel’s Venice premiere The Order, starring Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan and Jurnee Smollett; Roland Emmerich’s ancient Rome gladiatorial epic series, Those About to Die for Peacock; Richard Linklater’s Hit Man starring Glen Powell and Adria Arjona; and Late Night with the Devil.
Contacts
Brileigh Allen
480-295-6065
brileigh.allen@angel.com