On a busy Saturday for two of the biggest Sundance documentaries Netflix confirmed it had picked up worldwide rights to Skywalkers: A Love Story, while Warner Bros was in exclusive negotiations for Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.
Jeff Zimbalist’s Skywalkers tells of a pair of Russian “rooftoppers” who attempt to perform an acrobatic stunt atop the Merdeka 118 super skyscraper under construction in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in a bid to save their relationship and their careers.
The US Documentary Competition selection took seven years to make and Zimablist and his team accompanied Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus on their mission for much of the ride, while Beerkus also served as a drone operator, capturing extraordinary footage from high up.
XYZ Films’ ambitious documentary division produced Skywalkers, and Nate Bolotin and Pip Ngo brokered the deal after fielding interest from multiple buyers following the January 18 premiere.
Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina produced with XYZ Films head of documentaries Tamir Ardon and Chris Smith. XYZ’s Nick Spicer served as executive producer.
Cinetic is selling Super/Man, which was produced by Passion Pictures, and has engaged with buyers since the January 21 premiere. Sources had not confirmed the $15m deal amount reported elsewhere at time of writing, which would be a huge number for a Sundance documentary sale.
The studio makes sense for Super/Man, given its history with the Superman franchise, including the four films spanning 1978-87 which starred Reeve.
After a slow start – par for the course in the last few years dating back to the pandemic – the Sundance market has spluttered into life.
Netflix has been a prominent buyer in Park City, taking the Midnight horror It’s What’s Inside in a $17m deal, and Norwegian documentary Ibelin.
Amazon MGM Studios was in final negotiations for Megan Park’s comedy My Old Ass featuring Aubrey Plaza, Searchlight Pictures paid $10m for Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain early in the festival, Neon acquired Steven Soderbergh’s Presence, and IFC and Sapan Studio snapped up Ghostlight.
At time of writing talks were ongoing for Josh Margolin’s June Squibb comedy drama Thelma, as well as Josh Greenbaum’s documentary Will & Harper featuring Will Ferrell.
At the start of the festival Sony Pictures Classics pounced on multiple territories for Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap.
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