Amazon and Netflix Making Major Moves At Sundance

The Sundance film festival has been raging for a few days now, and one of the major stories of the festival has been the aggressive buying strategies of streaming services Netflix and Amazon. Both distribution entities had stepped into the feature-film game in 2015 — Netflix with Beasts of No Nation and Amazon with Chi-raq — and they show no signs of slowing down in 2016.

There are always two stories to Sundance: the films themselves and then who’s buying them. The indie boom of the 1990s was in many ways characterized by Harvey Weinstein’s Sundance buying blitzes. The streaming invasion is the latest shakeup in the Sundance status quo, one with a whole lot of question marks about what Netflix and Amazon’s increased involvement means for the future of theatrical distribution of indie films.

For now, though, let’s focus on what’s been purchased, and what will soon be available on streaming:

WHAT HAS AMAZON ACQUIRED?

Manchester By the Sea
Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Acquired by: Amazon

Arguably the best-reviewed movie of the festival so far, Amazon made big headlines by buying it for a cool $10 million. Which means there are going to be quite a few eyeballs on this one to see how Amazon rolls it out, both theatrically (Amazon is looking to partner with a distributor) and on demand. The film is the latest by Lonergan, who directed You Can Count on Me, a virtually perfect film, and Margaret, which famously sat on a shelf for years until critics and film enthusiasts shouted it into theaters, where it was rapturously reviewed and then ignored by the Oscars. Manchester stars Casey Affleck as a grieving father who takes in his nephew, played by Lucas Hedges, who was on NBC’s The Slap, meaning we now have acclaimed performances by the kid from Smash and the kid from The Slap, so let’s start making our peace with the world in which we live. People are already talking an awards push for Casey Affleck, so this will be one to watch when it comes out.

Author: The JT LeRoy Story
Director: Jeff Feuerzeig
Acquired by: Amazon

One of Sundance’s highest profile documentaries was this one about the fantastical and fraudulent story of author and fake person JT LeRoy. The fictional persona of author Laura Albert, JT LeRoy fooled a lot of people, some of them famous, and it’s certain to be a compelling (and perhaps controversial) story for Amazon.

Love & Friendship
Director: Whit Stillman
Acquired by: Amazon

Stillman didn’t have much success with his Amazon pilot The Cosmopolitans, but here’s hoping things go better for this Jane Austen adaptation (Stillman adapted the script from Austen’s novella “Lady Susan”). Amazon had already acquired the rights to the film last year, but the news now is that they’re partnering with Roadside Attractions for the theatrical release (Amazon and Roadside teamed up for the Chi-raq theatrical release). If a new Whit Stillman movie isn’t enough of a draw on its own, it’s also the reunion for The Last Days of Disco stars Chloe Sevigny and Kate Beckinsale. Early word is that Beckinsale may once again be doing career-best work in a Whit Stillman film.

Complete Unknown
Director: Joshua Marston
Acquired by: Amazon

Marston’s previous films were Maria Full of Grace (an Oscar nominee for Catalina Sandino Moreno’s lead performance) and The Forgiveness of Blood, a festival hit about Albanian blood feuds that never made much of an impression in other circles, which is too bad because it’s excellent. Complete Unknown stars Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon, Kathy Bates, and Donald Glover, is about a man who re-connects with a mysterious woman from his past, and is looking at a fall release.

WHAT HAS NETFLIX ACQUIRED?

Fundamentals of Caring
Director: Rob Burnett
Acquired by: Netflix

Netflix scooped up the streaming rights to this one before Sundance even began. Starring Paul Rudd as a caregiver and Craig Roberts as an 18-year-old with muscular dystrophy. Roberts is the star of Amazon’s Red Oaks, so now he’s going to have to be really careful at the studios’ respective Sundance parties. Selena Gomez also stars in this film from director Rob Burnett, longtime producer of The Late Show with David Letterman.

Tallulah
Director: Sian Heder
Acquired by: Netflix

Heder, a writer for Orange Is the New Black making her feature-film directorial debut, nabbed Ellen Page and Allison Janney (as well as Orange Emmy-winner Uzo Aduba) to star in this story about a young woman (Page) who takes in a baby from her negligent mother. The reunion of Juno cast members Page and Janney is one reason to look forward to this one when it makes it to Netflix streaming.