Crunchyroll, Goodfellas Back Xilam’s Annecy WIP Thriller ‘The Wolf’

Crunchyroll and Goodfellas have boarded Xilam’s upcoming adult animated feature The Wolf, giving the psychological thriller a major boost ahead of its Annecy work-in-progress presentation on Tuesday. The two distribution pickups were announced by Variety.

Based on Jean-Marc Rochette’s graphic novel, The Wolf is directed by Benjamin Massoubre and Fursy Teyssier. The film turns on a tense relationship between a shepherd and a wolf in the French Alps, expanding Rochette’s spare, elemental story into an animated feature aimed squarely at adult audiences.

The film’s voice cast includes Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, Raphaël Quenard, Vincent Macaigne, and Golshifteh Farahani, giving Xilam one of the highest-profile French animation packages currently on the market.

The Wolf will be presented at Annecy alongside several other Xilam projects, including Olivier Clert’s Cannes and Annecy title Lucy Lost, the Disney+ series The Doomies, and the French premiere of Submarine Jim.

For Xilam, the deals underline a growing push into prestige animated features after years spent building one of Europe’s best-known television animation brands.