Lionsgate and Roadside attractions have acquired Dear White People, a satirical film that was screened at the Sundance film Festival earlier this year.
The film was written directed by Justin Simien and centers on four black Ivy League students who attend an African American themed party set up by white students. According to Variety, the main cast includes Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris) and Tessa Thompson (Veronica Mars). The executive producers are Stephanie Allain and Leonid Lebedev.
“Justin Simien is a funny, fresh and current voice with his finger on the millennials' pulse," Roadside's Howard Cohen said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "His crowd-pleasing Dear White People took Sundance by storm, with its sly and extremely topical satire sparking conversations about our supposed 'post-racial,' 21st century America.”
Dear White People won a special jury prize at Sundance. Its next screening comes at the New York New Directors/New Film, which was set up by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. The event runs this weekend.
Lionsgate and Roadside did not set a release date for the film yet.