Sundance Film Festival is a great place to see movies, and it’s also a great place to have your movie seen: the fest is a business hub, with sales being reported on a daily basis. Two deals for women-centric films to catch our eye are “The Incredible Jessica James,” starring former “Daily Show” gem Jessica Williams, and “Patti Cake$,” a comedy about an aspiring hip hop artist that’s won rave reviews from audiences and critics at the fest.
“The Incredible Jessica James” is Sundance’s Closing Night film, and as such it’s yet to have its world premiere. The film made a big enough impression on Netflix that the streaming giant acquired worldwide rights to the comedy, written and directed by Jim Strouse (“People Places Things”), before they saw how the film was received at the fest. Variety reports that the financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
The film centers on an aspiring playwright (Williams) who forms an unlikely bond with a recently divorced man (Chris O’Dowd, “Bridesmaids”) as she struggles to recover from a break-up. Noël Wells (“Master of None”) and Lakeith Stanfield (“Atlanta”) co-star.
“The Incredible Jessica James” will be “branded as a Netflix original film and launch globally this year to Netflix viewers in 190 countries,” according to Variety.
Williams recently found herself in the spotlight after delivering a powerful speech at Sundance’s Women’s March, held Saturday. “I am the daughter of Maria Brooks and the daughter of John Williams,” she said. “I come from black bodies. My ancestors were slaves. ‘Williams’ is my last name, but it is not my real name. It is my slave name.”
The “2 Dope Queens” host continued, “I’m 27 years old. I got ‘The Daily Show’ when I was 22. I learned a lot of shit when I was on that show and for me, I grew up. And the hardest part of growing up for me is realizing that the world is not inherently fair. I grew up thinking that the civil rights movement already happened, that we already fought. But this election was a wakeup call … We have to fight, and we cannot slack.”
“‘Patti Cake$” has been earning standing ovations and critical acclaim at the fest, and consequently attracted lots of interested buyers. “Annapurna Pictures, The Orchard, Amazon, Neon, and Lionsgate were also among the distributors who had pursued the hip-hop-inspired film,” The Hollywood Reporter confirms. Fox Searchlight won the bidding war, shelling out $10.5 million for worldwide rights.
Danielle Macdonald (“The East”) stars as Patricia “Killa P” Dombrowski, a young woman from New Jersey who hopes to pursue a career in hip hop. The Australian actress has been described as one of the fest’s most prominent breakouts. “‘Patti Cake$” marks the feature directing debut of Geremy Jasper, who also penned the screenplay.
The Sundance Film Festival runs through January 29.
