Have A Nice Day has been having quite a fantastic couple of months, becoming the first Chinese animated feature to be shown in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, and having screened at multiple other film festivals, including the Holland Animation Film Festival, Neuchatel In’t Fantastic Film Festival, and Animafest Zagreb. Unfortunately, it did not have a nice day after having to withdraw their slot at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival because of heavy pressure from the Chinese government.

The film, however, received some positive news recently, with Strand Releasing picking up the distribution rights for the film to be released in theaters in the United States, according to Variety. The film focuses on a variety of people, ranging from a young robber looking to get married for his mother’s wishes to Chinese mobsters, who are on the hunt for a bag filled with 1 million yuan, which equates to about $150 thousand U.S. dollars. It is directed by Liu Jian, whose first animated film, Piercing I, released in 2010.

Strand is the first of many distribution companies who are negotiating/have negotiated releasing Have A Nice Day in a variety of countries, including La Aventura (Spain), Outside the Box (Switzerland), Seven Films (Greece), Bir Film (Turkey), Cirko (Hungary), and MUBI (U.K./Ireland). We hope to see a global release for the film in the near future.