Searchlight Lands ‘Theater Camp’ In $8M Range In WW Sundance Deal; Pic Will Get Theatrical Release

Ready to get “Spirited Away” again?GKIDS, the producer and distributor for some of the most exciting animation from around the world, announced that it has acquired the North American audiovisual distribution rights for “Spirited Away: Live on Stage.” The new movie was filmed during the production’s run at the historic Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, Japan in 2002. Based on Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning animated feature (one of the greatest films, live-action or animated, ever), the stage adaptation was directed by Tony Award-winner John Caird, known for his groundbreaking adaptation of “Les Misérables.”GKIDS will release two separate filmed performances of the production, starring Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi, double-cast as the lead heroine Chihiro.

MGM+ new original fantasy-adventure comedy The Portable Door will debut exclusively on MGM+ and coming exclusively to the U.S. market in April. The comedy stars multi-time Golden Globe nominee Sam Neill (Peter Rabbit, Jurassic Park) and Patrick Gibson (The OA, Tolkien), joining two-time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, No Time to Die) and Sophie Wilde (Eden, You Don’t Know Me). The award-winning Jeffrey Walker (Ali’s Wedding, Lambs of God) directed the film, which is adapted by Leon Ford (Griff the Invisible) from Tom Holt’s popular seven-book fantasy series. 

The avant-garde video artist Nam June Paik gets his own adulatory portrait in Amanda Kim’s documentary “Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV.” An act of biographical recovery that also, somehow, flattens a controversial artist, Kim’s film provides just enough contextual information to maintain interest, even if it’s never as radical as its titular subject.  READ MORE: 25 Most Anticipated Films At The Sundance Film Festival Moving succinctly from birth to death, Kim provides a broad overview of Paik’s history and aesthetic interests.

Caught somewhere between a movie and a series, “Willie Nelson & Family” doubles down on the history and mythology of its namesake to stretch the latter into what would have been better served as the former.  Honest, introspective, yet rarely revelatory, the anthology often mistakes the comprehensive for the essential, and while it succeeds in explaining Willie Nelson to its audience, that’s about all it does.

In writer/director A.V. Rockwell’s feature directorial debut, “A Thousand and One,” Inez (a deeply felt Teyana Talyor) has returned to Harlem after spending a year in Rikers Prison.

EXCLUSIVE: Add another wide release to the 2023 theatrical release calendar as Open Road has just dated the Gerard Butler action movie Kandahar for May 26, Memorial Day weekend.

This is “a place of mountains and myths,” we’re told as a montage of Central Appalachian imagery fills the frame. The mists, buffalo, ferns, and flowing waters intercut with the coal-filled mountains and mining towns that grew up around them.

There is no shortage of stories about fathers and their kids, specifically sons. But in Justin Chon’s (“Gook,” “Ms.

“Scrapper” starts in a dreary English flat with a child all alone but not incapable. That seems to be the M.O.

Ira Sachs’ latest feature film, ‘Passages,’ has been acquired by MUBU for all distribution rights in the US, UK, Ireland and Latin America. “Passages” will be released theatrically in 2023. The picture, set in modern-day Paris, concerns a filmmaker who impulsively has an affair with a young school teacher.

Apple has confirmed Deadline’s scoop on winning an all-night bidding battle for the John Carney-directed Flora and Son, as Apple’s Heads of Worldwide Video Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht and their head of features Matt Dentler burned the midnight oil to make the label’s biggest Sundance Film Festival deal since they acquired CODA in 2021. That film went on to establish Apple as the first streamer to win the Best Picture Oscar, with the film also winning Best Adapted Screenplay for director Sian Heder and Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur.

Few writers have as much of a hold on adults’ childhood selves as Judy Blume. Even if you’ve never read her books, her impact, especially with her most influential novels decades ago, is felt in how YA fiction is laid out today.

After growing up on a steady diet of “Law & Order: SVU,” Dianey Bermeo wanted to be like Olivia Benson, helping victims of sex crimes by bringing their assailants to justice. She gave up on that dream after police investigators in her college town failed to find the man who she said impersonated an officer and sexually assaulted her.

The "Thoroughbreds" and "Bad Education" filmmaker's sci-fi/comedy finds him working on a larger canvas, but to lesser effect.

Searchlight has won a fierce bidding war for one of the buzziest Sundance crowd-pleasers. The Disney-owned distributor has closed a deal for the well-reviewed and well-received “Theater Camp,” with distribution rights going for around $10 million.

Before the pandemic, Amazon Studios was much more interested in releasing films with full theatrical runs before putting the feature on Prime Video. However, when COVID made that an impossibility, we saw the studio rely more heavily on Prime Video exclusives and shy away from full theatrical runs, even for films that were vying for awards season gold.

Ben Affleck’s latest directorial effort, “Air,” will get a global theatrical release from Amazon Studios on April 5, ahead of its global streaming premiere on Prime Video.“Air,” from Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports, Mandalay Pictures, and the first project from Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity, features what is being described as a “first of its kind arrangement” with Amazon Studios distributing the film globally with Warner Bros. Pictures handling international as part of its distribution pact with Amazon’s MGM.The new movie tells the true story of the partnership between Michael Jordan, a then-rookie with grand ambitions, and Nike’s fledging basketball division.

There is so much to appreciate about A.V. Rockwell’s A Thousand and One. The film chronicles the lives of native New Yorkers from 1994-2005, which was a period of transition in NYC. The atmosphere began to change, as stop and frisk was over-utilized, gentrification was displacing the people of Harlem at rapid speed, and the culture of the city gave way to sterilization. Now there are even fewer resources available, the wage gap is beyond repair and it’s unaffordable. Rockwell drew inspiration from this and created a coming-of-age story about finding an identity and chosen family.

Theater Camp is a hilarious film by first time directors Molly Gordon (Booksmart), and Nick Lieberman. This was a collaborative effort between friends as it’s written by Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Nick Lieberman, and Noah Galvin. You can tell this is a labor of love because while it’s kooky, it’s full of vulnerability and earnestness.