A24 has delayed the theatrical release of “The Legend of Ochi” after filmmaker Isaiah Saxon‘s house burned down in the Los Angeles wildfires. The fantasy adventure will premiere at Sundance Film Festival as planned, with Saxon and cast in attendance at the Park City debut.
“The Legend of Ochi” will open in theaters on April 25, instead of its previous date of Feb. 28. The movie is screening first at Sundance on Jan. 26.
The film, which marks Saxon’s directorial debut, utilizes puppetry, animatronics, matte paintings and 3D animation to tell the story of a shy farm girl named Yuri, who lives in a remote village on the island of Carpathia and was raised to fear an elusive animal species known as ochi. But when Yuri discovers a wounded baby ochi has been left behind, she escapes on a quest to bring him home. “News of the World” breakout Helena Zengel stars in “The Legend of Ochi,” with Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson and Willem Dafoe rounding out the cast.
Saxon made “The Legend of Ochi” for $10 million. He previously made short films with his production company Encyclopedia Pictura and directed music videos for artists such as Grizzly Bear and Björk. He resided in Altadena prior to the wildfire outbreak, which authorities are still working to contain in Southern California.
“We lost our home, our whole street, most of our town. Ashes to ashes dust to dust,” Saxon tweeted earlier in January. “Altadena was the best place I’ve ever lived. An innocent and magical and above all else beautiful town. From another time. And its all gone.”
“Avengers: Endgame” directors Joe Russo and Anthony Russo executive produced “The Legend of Ochi” with Mike Larocca, Angela Russo-Otstot, Louise Lovegrove, Alex Plapinger, Len Blavatnik, Danny Cohen, Timo Argillander amd Elisa lvares. Producers were Saxon, Richard Peete, Traci Carlson and Jonathan Wang.