Sundance: A24 Buys ‘The Spectacular Now’
BREAKING: Another Sundance deal as A24 acquires The Spectacular Now, a coming-of-age saga that stars Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) and Miles Teller and premiered Friday in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Deals are also imminent on Concussion, as well as Austenland, the latter of which has FilmDistrict, looking to partner with Exclusive, as the lead horse going into Sunday night. The deal should have been done already but was held up because Twilight Saga author Stephenie Meyer, who produced the film, couldn’t take part because she is Mormon and so they won’t close the deal officially until Monday.
James Ponsoldt directed Spectacular from a script by (500) Days Of Summer scribes Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. Teller plays a high school senior extrovert who vows to save an introverted classmate (Woodley), and their relationship grows intense. Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Kyle Chandler also star. Deal was done by UTA. Here’s the official announcement:
A24 announced the acquisition of North American rights to Sundance favorite THE SPECTACULAR NOW. The James Ponsoldt directed film, from a script by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, has become one of the darlings of the Sundance Film Festival and features breakout performances by Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley. Film also features wonderful turns by Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler and Andre Royo. Film premiered on Friday night at Sundance in US Dramatic Competition. A24 will release the film this summer.
“We fell in love with this film the minute that we watched it and we know the rest of the country will embrace this timeless love story. James has directed a wonderful film that depicts young love with complete authenticity and has two young stars giving incredible performances with Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley.” says A24.
Producer Andrew Lauren says, “I am so thrilled that the film has found a home with a company that has such passion for it. It’s been an amazing Sundance and we are so gratified by the incredibly warm response here.”
THE SPECTACULAR NOW was produced by Tom McNulty, Shawn Levy, Andrew Lauren, and Michelle Krumm.
The deal was negotiated with A24 by UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers. James Ponsoldt is also represented by UTA.
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