Can ‘A Thousand And One’ With Teyana Taylor Spin Sundance Grand Jury Prize Into Box Office Bucks? – Specialty Preview
31.03.2023 - 19:37
/ deadline.com
As the new crop of 2023 festival favorites roll out, Focus Features presents A Thousand And One in over 900 carefully curated theaters, testing the appetite for specialty fare at a challenging moment.
Short film and video director A.V. Rockwell’s feature-length debut stars Teyana Taylor as free-spirited Inez, who kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability in a rapidly changing New York City. Reviews are stellar, see Deadline’s. The winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize is at 97% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, 82% with auds. The fest called it “an elegant ode to the terribly beautiful power of family as an anchor in an ever-changing world, making us into who we are in ways we can only haltingly understand.”
This film, like Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight in 2016 (also from Focus) needs strong word of mouth for theatrical. The distributor amped up screenings ahead of release, including sneak peeks from women’s groups to loyalty club members at AMC and Regal. The idea is that exposure and reviews coming out of Sundance should support the wider number of runs. Rockwell, who also wrote the film, is up and coming. Taylor, an R&B singer, dancer, choreographer, video producer and fashion designer has an enthusiastic following.
Producers are Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani, Brad Weston. Executive Producers: Oren Moverman and Rachel Jacobs.
Also opening: Neon presents horror Enys Men, written and directed by Mark Jenkin (Bait), starring Mary Woodvine, in 62 theaters. A wildlife volunteer on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast descends into a madness that