As the Sundance Film Festival keeps roaring on, so too do the deals. A24 has just snatched up the U.S. rights for the gambling dramedy Mississippi Grind, starring Ryan Reynolds and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson).
Deadline got the film festival exclusive. The deal, reportedly, was for over $2 million. There's no word on when the company plans to release the new film.
Mississippi Grind, also starring Ben Mendelsohn, Sienna Miller, Analeigh Tipton, Alfre Woodard and Robin Weigart, becomes the third film bought by A24 films during this Sundance, according to Slashfilm. The other two are the The Witch, the colonial horror film they gathered for $1.5 million, and the David Foster Wallace-biopic The End of the Tour, starring Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg. The latter they scooped up before it even premiered. That deal was supposedly within the $2-3 million range as well.
The new drama focuses on a gambler (Mendelsohn) who, in debt, goes on a road trip through the Southern U.S. with a young gambling addict (Reynolds) hoping to change in luck. The film, which premiered on Saturday in the Premieres Section of the festival, is earning high praises for its lead performances from Mendelsohn and Reynolds. Much like The End of the Tour, A24 is likely going to give this an awards push in the acting fields, so expect to see this around the fall. The film was sold by WME Global.
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