What to Stream: Three Sundance Success Stories

The Sundance Film Festival, the internationally renowned annual event that started in 1978, is back for another year. We’re going to assume you probably aren’t headed to Park City, Utah, to check out the 2017 crop of feature films. That means you’re likely going to have to wait a while to see what will be showcased. In the meantime, here are three previous Sundance successes that you can stream right now.

The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project - Credit: Artisan Entertainment
The Blair Witch Project (Photo: Artisan Entertainment)

In 1999, people weren’t sure if it was complete fiction or if it was an actual documentary. What Artisan Entertainment knew was that it was going to be a smash. One of the greatest indie hits of all time, The Blair Witch Project was made in Maryland for $35,000. The filmmakers were paid more than $1 million for their efforts, and saw their little movie make $140 million at the box office. Not bad! The Blair Witch Project is available on Amazon.

The Usual Suspects

'The Usual Suspects' (Photo: Everett)
The Usual Suspects (Photo: Everett)

Now we consider it one of the all-time classics, and the people who made it are well known, but when The Usual Suspects came to Sundance in 1995, the people behind it weren’t quite the icons they are today. Bryan Singer and Christopher McQuarrie’s film was shown, but it wasn’t even in the official competition. Still, it made waves. McQuarrie won an Oscar for his script, and Kevin Spacey won his first Oscar for playing … spoiler alert … Keyser Söze! The Usual Suspects is available on Hulu.

Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine (Photo: Fox Searchlight/courtesy Everett Collection)
Little Miss Sunshine (Photo: Fox Searchlight/courtesy Everett Collection)

Not every film we’re featuring came from the ’90s. Matthew Broderick’s assistant had an idea for a fun movie. The script was turned down by nearly everyone in Hollywood and then got stuck in development hell at Focus before it finally received funding, got made, and was bought at Sundance for $10.5 million in 2006. Now we know it as the hit comedy Little Miss Sunshine, and if you want to watch it, it’s available on iTunes.

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