Sundance 2015 Film Festival: Which 2015 Acquisition Will Break Out?
The 2015 Sundance Film Festival has been one of the most fruitful festivals in years, with a number of distributors acquiring competition and out of competition films.
With so many films being picked, many analysts wonder how well these films will do at the box office. The reason is due to the fact that most of 2014's Sundance films underperformed. The highest grossing Sundance film was "Whiplash," which is nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. That film has only made $7.6 million, which is a bit disappointing considering the film is nominated for Best Picture and it seemed like it could have a lot of commercial potential.
Of course, "Boyhood" had its world premiere at Sundance, but the film already had distribution going into the festival and it was simply at Sundance as a means of obtaining buzz.
So which films will be successful at the box office and potentially during awards season?
One of the biggest companies at the festival this year has been A24 who has obtained the acclaimed horror competition film "The Witch" and the upcoming James Ponsoldt film "The End of the Tour."
The company previously distributed Ponsoldt's film "The Spectacular Now" and that movie went on to obtain rave reviews and succeed at the box office. A24 also acquired "Slow West" prior to the Sundance Film Festival and recently acquired "Mississippi Grinder," which stars Sienna Miller and Ben Mendelsohn. The company did not do well during the 2014 year and had a number of flops even though most of their films were critically acclaimed. Their latest acquisitions have been a mixed bag.
"The Witch" was a huge hit at Sundance while "Slow West" received mixed reviews. The other films had more solid buzz but have not been standouts.
Meanwhile, Fox Searchlight acquired "Brooklyn" starring Saoirse Ronan, "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" and "Mistress America." "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" was notably the most expensive acquisition in the history of Sundance, as it was purchased for $12 million. The movie was a big hit at Sundance and Fox hopes that it can actually make a return on the film. Two years ago, the company purchased the "The Way Way Back" movie for $10 million and it only made $21 million at the box office. While it was a moderate success, the company did not get the return on the investment that it expected.
Meanwhile, Sony Pictures Classics obtained "Grandma" by Paul Weitz and "The Diary of a Teenage Girl. Last year the company obtained "Whiplash," which ended up winning the Grand Jury Prize and is nominated for the Oscars. It also obtained "Love is Strange" and "Infinitely Polar Bear," which has yet to be released.
Relativity also had a huge acquisition with "The Bronze," which it purchased for $3 million. The film opened the festival to great reviews and will likely be released later this year.
IFC Films also surprised by taking rights to "The D Train," a competition film which cost $3 million. It is unknown how the film will be released but based on the cost, it is likely the IFC will opt for a theatrical release only.
With all these acquisitions, it is obvious that it has been a good year for Sundance. However, there has been no standout film. Like last year the overall quality seemed to be good but there was nothing groundbreaking or surprising that stood out. This year seems like another one of those years and it will be unpredictable which film ends up going home with the Grand Jury Prize.