ARP nabs 'Seediq Bale'

"Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale" LONDON -- ARP has snapped up French rights to Wei Te-sheng's ''Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale,'' which is screening in competition at the Venice Film Festival next month. The $25 million epic pic, produced by John Woo, Terence Chang and Jimmy Huang, and sold by Fortissimo Films, will also screen in Toronto as a special presentation, it was announced on Tuesday. The deal was negotiated by Fortissimo's exec VP of sales Nicole Mackey and topper Michael J. Werner with ARP co-head Michele Halberstadt. StudioCanal's U.K. distribution arm Optimum Releasing snapped up the title earlier this month. Story, set in 1930s Formosa (now Taiwan), follows the true story of the Wushe Incident in which aboriginal Seediq tribe warrior Mouna Rudo led his people to rebel against Japan, which occupied the island at the time. The large cast includes native aboriginal Taiwanese and Asian thesps Da-Ching, Umin Boya, Landy Wen, Lo Mei-ling, Japanese thesp Ando Masanobu (''Sukiyaki Western Django'') and Taiwanese star Vivian Hsu. Pic is skedded for the largest release ever for a Taiwanese film in its home territory with already more than 100,000 tickets pre-sold for its September release in the country. Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com