Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights from CNN Films to Sundance selection Little Richard: I Am Everything in a deal that is understood to have closed on site in Park City as buyer interest begins to heat up on other available titles.
Lisa Cortés’ US Documentary Competition section entry premiered on Thursday opening night and explores the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll and the key role played by Richard Penniman.
Magnolia plans to release the film in April in the US and Magnolia head of international sales Lorna Lee Torres and international sales manager Austin Kennedy will launch sales at the EFM in Berlin next month. HBO Max is an executive producer and holds US and international streaming rights.
Bungalow Media + Entertainment produced for CNN Films and HBO Max, in association with Rolling Stone Films, with Sundance alum Dee Rees on board as executive producer. Magnolia EVP Dori Begley and SVP of acquisitions John Von Thaden brokered the deal with Stacey Wolf and Kelly MacLanahan of CNN Worldwide.
Meanwhile early interest was coalescing on Friday night around Chloe Domont’s Fair Play, the US Dramatic Competition entry about a promotion at a New York hedge fund that pushes two newly engaged employees to the edge.
The psychological thriller starring Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor premiered on Friday and further public and P&I screenings are set for Saturday and Sunday. It is backed by the partnership between MRC and Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T-Street to support emerging directors. Domont’s feature debut follows TV work on the likes of Billions, Ballers and Clarice.
Also looking lively is Fairyland, Andrew Durham’s Premieres selection starring Emilia Jones and Scoot McNairy about an unconventional father-daughter relationship in San Francisco spanning the 1970s into the onset of the AIDS epidemic. A second public screening is scheduled for tomorrow. UTA Independent Film Group represents US rights and Arclight Films handles international.
Saturday brings anticipated world premieres for William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth follow-up Eileen, Theater Camp from Cha Cha Real Smooth producer Erik Feig, Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent follow-up The Eternal Memory, and Bad Behaviour, marking the feature directing debut of Jane Campion’s daughter Alice Englert and starring Jennifer Connelly and Ben Whishaw.
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