AMC Networks swoops on US rights to On The Road

Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst star in the MK2 production based on Jack Kerouac’s beat generation classic about young friends in search of truth on the open roads of America.

Jose Rivera adapted the screenplay and Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Danny Morgan, Alice Braga, Elisabeth Moss and Viggo Mortensen round out the key cast. Producer MK2 handles international sales and has licensed rights in most territories.

MK2 president Nathanael Karmitz, Charles Gillibert, Rebecca Yeldham and Roman Coppola produced for American Zoetrope. Francis Ford Coppola served as executive producer and has developed the project since 1978.

“Walter Salles has made an ambitious and accomplished film out of Jack Kerouac’s iconic novel,” AMC Networks CEO and president Josh Sapan said. “It’s a classic road movie with career-making performances from Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley, and a terrific showcase for Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst. This exceptional piece of filmmaking is the cinematic equivalent to the ground-breaking original content that our company produces for its networks.”

“This is a major step forward for us, and we plan to work across AMC Networks in putting all our resources together to make this theatrical release into a significant cultural event,” Sundance Selects/IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring said. 

“We will show the same passion in releasing this film as the team took behind producing it. We’re honored to be working with our friends Nathanael Karmitz and Charles Gillibert at MK2, Walter Salles, Rebecca Yeldham, Roman Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola.”

”On The Road changed the lives of many people, it changed the life of MK2 and it will also have that affect on AMC Networks and its labels’ IFC Films and Sundance Selects,” Karmitz and Gillibert said. “We had a lot of interest from US distributors but the combination of AMC Networks’ great promotional appeal with IFC Films and Sundance Selects’ experience in distribution is an innovative and ambitious way to bring On The Road great success in the US. We were also very touched by the passionate approach of Josh Sapan and Jonathan Sehring and by the enthusiasm of their team.”

This marks the fourth time that the two companies have collaborated following Olivier Assayas’ Summer Hours, Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy and Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park. They are also partnering on Assayas’ upcoming Something In The Air.

Sundance Selects/IFC Films svp of acquisitions and productions Arianna Bocco negotiated the deal with Bart Walker of Cinetic Media on behalf of the producers.