Don’t be confused by the title. The new French animated film Arco that debuted at Cannes in May is not about a gas station. This debut feature film from illustrator and graphic novel creator Ugo Bienvenu was quickly snapped up after its Cannes debut for U.S. distribution by Neon, which no doubt sniffed a similar kind of potential success like its Robot Dreams which landed an Animated Feature Oscar nomination in 2023.

A magical and beautifully animated journey through time, Arco is a dazzling adventure about a 10-year-old boy from a peaceful, distant future who accidentally travels back to the year 2075 and discovers a world in peril. As Arco develops a charming and touching friendship with a young girl named Iris, they band together and along with her trusted robot caretaker Mikki, set out on a quest to get Arco home, while the two children may also be the only ones who can save our planet.

A wondrous odyssey filled with hope and optimism for our future, Arco is an enchanting fable from breakout filmmaker Ugo Bienvenu, produced by Remembers’ Bienvenu and Felix de Givry, and mountainA’s Natalie Portman and Sophie Mas.

The voice cast includes Will Ferrell, America Ferrera, Flea, Natalie Portman, Mark Ruffalo, and Andy Samberg. Portman produced the movie with Sophie Mas under their joint Paris and New York banner MountainA alongside Bienvenu and Félix de Givry at Paris-based Remembers.

NEON will release the film on November 14, 2025 for an awards-qualifying theatrical run before opening wide in 2026.