The Sundance Two Biggest Deals Made My Heart Sink
The distribution deals that made headlines at the Sundance Film Festival could feel like engagement announcements (“‘The Great Sick’ will wed Amazon Studios for $12 Million!”). These deals are huge for all parties (the actors, the distributors, the agents, and everyone’s mother), Even if you are a critic, you can easily get involved in the drama of the deals happening. It can feel like betting on sports, like watching your child get into college. What movies will be invited?
A happy ending is the one you want. A movie that is picked up for a huge sum of money means that it was invested. This signifies that the movie will get its chance and that it will be seen. There have been many times when the Sundance Cinderella story happened. It started with titles like “Reservoir Dogs,” which were picked up after the 1992 Sundance by Miramax edition. This deal arguably changed the film’s history.
Not all big deals are created equally. Todd Field, the writer/director of “Tar,” recently shared a fascinating tale about his first film, “In the Bedroom”, which was acquired at Sundance by Miramax in 2001. While many filmmakers may have believed they had won the lottery, Field ended up crying in the bathroom. He was aware that his film was delicate and that Harvey Weinstein would recut it and destroy it. Field met Tom Cruise during the filming of “Eyes Wide Shut” and he advised him (quite cleverly) how to avoid this fate. The version Field created of “In the Bedroom” was eventually released to the public. His story is still a parable that shows how even headline-making Sundance deals can have negatives just as much as their upsides.
This is what I believe happened this year. Two of the biggest Sundance deals in 2023 were about the triumphant purchases of films I thought were fantastic: ” fair Play,” which is a sexy and riveting financial drama that has a lot to share about the post-#MeToo era, and ” Flora and Son,” which is the latest lo-fi musical gem from John Carney (“Once”) and features a stellar performance by Eve Hewson. “Fair Play,” which was shown to an enthusiastic audience and had many hungry distributors, ended up being sold to Netflix for $20 Million. Apple bought “Flora and Son”, which also received a huge response.
