‘The Unicorn That Said No’ Sells to Nine Territories Ahead of AFM Premiere

Sales agency The Playmaker Munich has closed distribution deals for the animated feature “The Unicorn That Said No” across nine territories before the film has screened for buyers — a market position most sellers only dream about at the American Film Market in Los Angeles.

The deals cover a broad stretch of the map. Unlimited Media takes the Baltic states, WWE Rights takes Benelux, KMBO takes France, and Grand Entertainment for Motion Pictures takes the Middle East. Rounding out the list: M2 Films for Poland, Idea Film for Romania, Another World Entertainment for Scandinavia, Pack Magic for Spain and Orjinlab for Turkey.

Warner Bros. Film Productions Germany will release the film in German cinemas on Jan. 1, 2027.

What is the film about?

The story comes from the picture book “Das Neinhorn” by Marc-Uwe Kling and Astrid Henn, translated into more than 25 languages. That kind of reach is rare for a German-language children’s book; think of it as a publishing franchise arriving with a built-in international audience.

The plot follows what the producers call a “sweet, grumpy unicorn” — a creature who can no longer stand the pink, idyllic world of his unicorn family and sets off for Nowhere. Along the way he finds unexpected friends, and together they must rescue the king’s daughter from her tower so he can return home with his new gang.

Kling directs alongside Johannes Weiland, whose credits include “The Gruffalo’s Child,” and Studio Soi. Kling wrote the screenplay with Marcus Sauermann and voices the unicorn himself. The German cast also features Nora Tschirner, Torsten Sträter and Karoline Herfurth.

Who is making it?

The production pairs two German outfits with track records. X Filme Creative Pool produced “Run Lola Run” and “Goodbye, Lenin!”; Studio Soi made “The Gruffalo” and “The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball.” Warner Bros. Film Productions Germany co-produces.

The producers are Uwe Schott, Nicole Kellerhals and Carsten Bunte. Steffen Schier, Margret Mackuth and Julia Hayungs serve as co-producers. Felix Raffel composes the score, and Dota Kehr contributes the main song.

Public funding supports the project through MFG, MDM, BKM, FFA and Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film.

When and where does it screen at AFM?

The market premiere runs at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11 at AMC Century City in Los Angeles. The Playmaker Munich will operate out of the Fairmont Century Plaza during the market.

Sylvia Edelmann, head of sales at The Playmaker, said: “It’s wonderful to see so many territories on board before the film has even screened. The book is a hit with readers of all ages around the world, and we can’t wait to bring this sweet, grumpy unicorn to even more audiences at AFM.”

Pre-selling a family animation into nine markets sight-unseen is the sort of thing that either signals genuine heat or a very persuasive sales deck. With a bestselling book in 25-plus languages behind it, this looks like the former — and the Nov. 11 screening will show whether the grumpy unicorn can convert page-bound affection into a theatrical franchise.