Client: Megan Park – Writer, Director
In another big Sundance deal upwards of $15 million, Amazon MGM is in final negotiations to acquire the Sundance buzz title My Old Ass. This was a hotly contested deal that today had several suitors in the mix for a crowd-pleasing coming-of-age film that has garnered strong reviews and reaction since it launched in the Premieres category on January 20 at the Eccles Theatre.
Amazon MGM is targeting a wide theatrical release in the U.S. and Canada, and they’re working out the strategy for international. Pic will then move to Prime Video to stream globally. It is the biggest Sundance deal for a theatrical release; Netflix paid $17 million for the genre thriller It’s What’s Inside, but that film is headed for a big streamer rollout.
Directed and scripted by Megan Park, the film stars Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Maddie Ziegler and Percy Hynes White. The summer before college, bright-yet-irreverent Elliott (Stella) comes face-to-face with her older self (Plaza) during a mushroom trip. The encounter spurs a funny and heartfelt journey of self-discovery and first love as Elliott prepares to leave her childhood home. The film has scored 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Park received a standing ovation and comes out of Sundance as a director to keep an eye on.
Pic is produced by LuckyChap’s Tom Ackerley, Margot Robbie and Josey McNamara, along with Indian Paintbrush’s Steven Rales. Dan Bekerman, Bronte Payne and Park are the exec producers.
This is Amazon MGM’s second big one with LuckyChap after the studio scored on the festival circuit and in theaters with the Emerald Fennell-directed provocative satire Saltburn. That film, with a cast that includes Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Carey Mulligan and Richard E. Grant, has been one of Prime Video’s top titles since it followed theatrical with release on the streamer. It grossed over $20 million at the box office, a tidy number for a specialty title. LuckyChap is also coming off Barbie, which grossed $1.4 billion+ with 8 Oscar noms including Best Picture.
The film is Park’s second outing, after her debut The Fallout won a lot of prizes at SXSW.
CAA Media Finance is sewing up the deal.