Sundance’s ‘The Birth Of A Nation’ Is Exactly What Hollywood Ordered

According to Variety, executives at Paramount, Sony, Netflix and The Weinstein Company bid throughout the night, but bosses at Fox Searchlight eventually scored the winning offer and are closing in on a $17.5 million deal, making the deal the biggest in Sundance history. “The movie exists, we contributed to it as a family, it belongs to us, ‘” Parker said to the film’s cast and crew at the screening, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film’s violence is set against the rural scenery of the American south. The movie also stars Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Jackie Earle Haley, Penelope Ann Miller and Gabrielle Union.

After a fierce bidding war, Fox Searchlight emerged triumphant, paying a whopping $17.5 Million to distribute the film. “The original D.W. Griffiths, the original ‘Birth of A Nation, ‘ was the foundation of our industry”. The excitement around Nate Parker’s film about the 1831 Nat Turner slave rebellion has had attendees at this year’s Sundance International Film Festival talking about the 2017 Oscars, crowning a festival MVP before its halfway point and, in the case of film distributors, opening their wallets, big time.

That’s a staggering dollar amount to gamble, considering the specialty studio shelled out $12 million for the previous record-holder – last year’s Grand Jury victor “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl“, which only grossed $6.8 million domestically and failed to notch a single Oscar nomination.

Mr. Parker’s drama has reached the highest price paid for a film at Sundance, but it’s not the most ever shelled out at a film festival. Parker’s eagerness for the film to be shown in theatres for an Oscar run may have tipped the decision in Fox Searchlight’s favour. The festival’s prestigious United States dramatic competition has already debuted a number of films where diversity is at the forefront, including critics’ favourites Morris From America and Southside With You, the latter of which centres on the first date between Barack and Michelle Obama. People can watch this film and be affected. “When you can look at a 12-year-old boy shot in less than two seconds and not see that child’s humanity and his worth, this movie is desperately needed”.

“I made this film for one reason – in the hope, creating change agents”, says Parker during an interview at Sundance.

Netflix purchased three Sundance premieres before the festival began: “Tallulah”, starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney; “The Fundamentals of Caring“, starring Paul Rudd and Selena Gomez; and “Under the Shadow“, an Iranian horror film.