A24 is closing on acquiring worldwide rights to “Sorry, Baby,” one of the buzzier movies to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
The movie sparked a days-long bidding war with Neon and Mubi among the independent studios in the mix. Sources say the price tag is near the $8 million mark.
As the logline for “Sorry, Baby” teases: “Something bad happened to Agnes. But life goes on… for everyone around her, at least.” Comedian Eva Victor wrote, directed and stars in the film, about a college professor who is recovering from sexual assault. Naomi Ackie and Lucas Hedges co-star in “Sorry, Baby,” which was produced by “Moonlight” filmmaker Barry Jenkins. The movie premiered on Monday night at the Eccles Theatre, where the audience in Park City embraced the poignant drama with a standing ovation.
In Variety’s review, chief film critic Peter Debruge described the movie as a “disarmingly funny, slow-to-unfold debut.” “It’s no easy task to make a film about trauma when one’s elders — those who make the rules and gatekeep the opportunities — still feel the appropriate response to adversity is to toughen up and soldier on,” he wrote in his review. “If ‘Sorry, Baby’ works, it’s because Victor strikes such a tricky tone: [Their] debut is warm and compassionate, advancing a conversation for which we’re still trying to find the words.”
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It’s been a glacially slow market at Sundance, with only two other films landing a sale so far. Seven days into the festival, Neon nabbed “Together,” a body-horror thriller starring real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, for somewhere between $10 million and $15 million. And Netflix nabbed the Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones drama “Train Dreams” a day later. Several talked-about titles, like Dylan O’Brien’s dark comedy “Twinless,” Jennifer Lopez’s Technicolor “Kiss of the Spider Woman” musical adaptation, and the Marlee Matlin documentary “Not Alone Anymore,” remain without buyers.
UTA Independent Film Group structured the financing and negotiated the deal for “Sorry, Baby” on behalf of the filmmakers. Charades handled international sales and co-repped in the U.S. Victor is repped by CAA, Management 360 and Felker Toczek.
Rebecca Rubin
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