{"id":6994,"date":"2026-02-28T01:38:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T01:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=6994"},"modified":"2026-02-28T01:38:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T01:38:35","slug":"sundance-2026-movies-sold-so-far-updating-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=6994","title":{"rendered":"Sundance 2026 Movies Sold So Far (Updating List)"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Of the 90-plus films and episodic series premiering at the Sundance<\/a> Film<\/a> Festival in 2026, only about a dozen arrived at the festival with distribution in hand. Many will be looking for homes<\/a>, but if this year is anything like last year, it may take some time for those sales to close<\/a>. We\u2019ll be tracking all of them as they come in.<\/p>\n

\u201cGail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Premieres
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Sony Pictures Classics
Director<\/strong>: David Wain
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Feb. 27
Buzz<\/strong>: That\u2019s four now! Sony Pictures Classics is clearly finding some deals a month removed from the festival (Deadline<\/a> reported that at least seven other bids were on the table for the film), as again picked up global rights to another buzzy, starry title, this time David Wain\u2019s return to the big screen with \u201cGail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass.\u201d Zoey Deutch stars as a bride-to-be who discovers that her fianc\u00e9 cashed in on a hall pass to sleep with a celebrity, inspiring her to do the same with her hall pass celeb, Jon Hamm playing himself. It\u2019s a reunion between Wain and writer Ken Marino, and also Hamm and John Slattery from \u201cMad Men.\u201d IndieWire called it one of Wain\u2019s funniest films of his career<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Incomer\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: NEXT
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Sumerian Pictures
Director<\/strong>: Louis Paxton
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Feb. 26
Buzz<\/strong>: Remember when we said a distributor you\u2019ve never heard of would make the biggest splash at Sundance?<\/a> Though we thought it could be Row K, turns out it\u2019s record-label-turned-film-distributor Sumerian Pictures, which IndieWire has learned has now bought its second award winner after the buzzy \u201cJosephine.\u201d \u201cThe Incomer\u201d from director Louis Paxton picked up the NEXT Innovator Award, and the offbeat comedy and fantasy film stars Domhnall Gleeson and Gayle Rankin. Rankin and Grant O\u2019Rourke play two siblings on the Isles of Northern Scotland who hunt birds for survival and protect their home from mythical \u201cincomers,\u201d only to have an awkward council worker (Gleeson) show up, one who hopes to uproot and relocate them on behalf of the government. \u201cThe Incomer\u201d and Paxton landed on IndieWire\u2019s critics poll<\/a> of the best movies out of Sundance, and Sumerian is planning a theatrical release for later this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Shitheads\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Premieres
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0IFC
Director<\/strong>: Macon Blair
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Feb. 26
Buzz<\/strong>: Macon Blair\u2019s third feature as a director stars Dave Franco and O\u2019Shea Jackson Jr. as two unqualified screw-ups who are hired to bring a rich teen to rehab, only for mayhem to ensue along the way. Blair told IndieWire he and story writer Alex Orr have been trying to make the film as far back as 2017, with Franco attached from the very beginning. The film also stars Mason Thames as the teen, along with Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun, and Peter Dinklage. \u201cThe Shitheads\u201d had some solid if mixed reviews, as IndieWire\u2019s called it \u201cuneven\u201d<\/a> in its blend of films as unalike as \u201cThe Last Detail\u201d and \u201cMidnight Run.\u201d IFC is planning to release the film theatrically this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Only Living Pickpocket in New York\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Premieres
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Sony Pictures Classics
Director<\/strong>: Noah Segan
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Feb. 24
Buzz<\/strong>: Sony Pictures Classics had an appetite. In what is the distributor\u2019s third buy out of Sundance, the distributor landed the global rights to \u201cThe Only Living Pickpocket in New York\u201d starring John Turturro and is planning a theatrical release for the film this fall. The film was hailed as a true love letter to New York City<\/a>, one that follows an aging pickpocket who is struggling to still get by when everyone has stopped carrying cash and gone digital and what happens when he steals a USB drive and faces the wrath of a crime family. The film also stars Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price, Tatiana Maslany, Victoria Moroles, and Steve Buscemi, and Segan is reuniting with T-Street producer Rian Johnson after originally starring in Johnson\u2019s debut feature \u201cBrick.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\u201cWicker\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Premieres
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Black Bear
Director<\/strong>: Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Feb. 17
Buzz<\/strong>: Some Sundance movies don\u2019t work beyond their kooky, twee premise, and some do and are destined to break out. \u201cWicker\u201d was the latter, as IndieWire said<\/a> the performances from Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd, a husband whom Colman\u2019s character manages to craft out of Wicker, were \u201cirresistibly weird and wonderful.\u201d This is a notable, competitive win for Black Bear, which did not finance \u201cWicker\u201d but instead comes from Tango and Topic Studios, the latter of which has had a string of recent Sundance favorites like \u201cA Real Pain.\u201d The distributor is planning a North American release of the film for this year and is also handling international sales. Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki, Marli Siu, and Nabhaan Rizwan also star in the film. <\/p>\n

\u201cJosephine\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: U.S. Dramatic
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Sumerian Pictures
Director<\/strong>: Beth de Ara\u00fajo
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Feb. 14
Buzz<\/strong>: Widely acclaimed and easily the most celebrated movie out of Sundance 2026, director Beth de Ara\u00fajo\u2019s \u201cJosephine\u201d was bound to find a home sooner or later, but it\u2019s a surprise that it ended up with Sumerian Pictures, a relative newcomer to the space that has been widely known as a record label but is now getting into film. They made a splash by still scooping it up in a 7-figure deal and a competitive situation. It will get a theatrical release and an awards campaign. Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, and Phillip Ettinger star in the drama alongside breakout young actress Mason Lily Reeves, who plays an 8-year-old girl who witnesses a sexual assault in Golden Gate Park and has to grapple with what she saw, with her parents struggling to help her cope. After winning the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Prize out of Sundance, \u201cJosephine\u201d is again competing in competition at Berlin. <\/p>\n

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Dr. Clarence B Jones appears in \u2018The Baddest Speechwriter of All\u2019 by Ben Proudfoot and Stephen Curry, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe Baddest Speechwriter of All\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Shorts
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Netflix
Director<\/strong>: Ben Proudfoot and Stephen Curry
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Feb. 12
Buzz<\/strong>: Though it missed out on \u201cThe Invite,\u201d Netflix is not coming out of Sundance empty handed. The streamer\u2019s first purchase was surprisingly a documentary short, one that figures to be an awards player down the road. It acquired \u201cThe Baddest Speechwriter of All,\u201d which along with Ben Proudfoot is the directorial debut of NBA great Stephen Curry. The 29-minute short film won the Grand Jury Prize for short films out of the festival. The film follows Dr. Clarence B. Jones, now 93, who was a lawyer and speechwriter \u2014 the baddest of them all \u2014 for Martin Luther King Jr. The film reflects on the personal cost and surprising truths of making history, offering an intimate insider\u2019s view of the Civil Rights Movement. But it also stood out thanks to more than 3,000 entirely hand-painted watercolor animation sequences from artist Daniel Bruson. Elizabeth Goodstein and Gigi Pritzker produced for Madison Wells, as did Peter Rotter and Jane Solomon.<\/p>\n

\u201cFilipi\u00f1ana\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: World Dramatic
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Kino Lorber
Director<\/strong>: Rafael Manuel
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Feb. 12
Buzz<\/strong>: As if Michael Haneke directed \u201cThe White Lotus,\u201d \u201cFilipi\u00f1ana\u201d was a dazzling critical darling out of Sundance, with the New Yorker calling it a \u201cmasterwork\u201d and Vulture noting how \u201cthe angle of a golf club can evoke suspense\u201d or \u201ca piece of fruit on the ground can feel like a tragedy.\u201d Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber said in a statement too that the film is a \u201ccinematic miracle\u201d and he \u201ccan\u2019t find enough adjectives to praise it.\u201d <\/p>\n

We were tracking the film early, having shared a striking teaser for the movie<\/a> from director Rafael Manuel, who based his debut feature on his own short, one that won the Silver Bear at Venice and you can currently stream on The Criterion Channel. The film is a class critique set at a posh golf club in the Philippines that is hiding something violent and sinister beneath the immaculate facade and dutiful servants. Jia Zhangke is an executive producer on \u201cFilipi\u00f1ana,\u201d and Kino Lorber picked up the North American rights just prior to the film making its European premiere at Berlin on Feb. 15. Kino Lorber will plan a theatrical release later this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI Want Your Sex\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Premieres
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Magnolia
Director<\/strong>: Gregg Araki
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Feb. 10
Buzz<\/strong>: Gregg Araki wants sex to come back to the big screens<\/a> and get Gen Z horny again, and Magnolia is helping him do it. The buzzy film starring Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman sold in a competitive situation to Magnolia for a 7-figure deal. IndieWire had a lot of fun with the picture<\/a>, and Magnolia is thinking so will audiences. The distributor is planning a theatrical release later this year. Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Johnny Knoxville, Margaret Cho, Roxane Mesquida, Charli XCX, and Daveed Diggs all co-star in the film.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Last First: Winter K2\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Premieres
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Apple
Director<\/strong>: Amir Bar-Lev
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Feb. 5
Buzz<\/strong>: In terms of pure visceral thrills, it\u2019s hard to beat a good mountain climbing documentary. That\u2019s the bet Apple made when it acquired \u201cThe Last First: Winter K2,\u201d which also explores the corrosive affect that influencer culture has had on the world of mountain climbing. Bar-Lev has an extensive track record of delivering documentary hits about a wide range of topics, so the tech giant is likely hoping that it has the next \u201cFree Solo\u201d on its hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce Upon a Time in Harlem\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Premieres
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Neon
Directors<\/strong>: William and David Greaves
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Feb. 5
Buzz<\/strong>: Few nonfiction films at Sundance generated more buzz than \u201cOnce Upon a Time in Harlem,\u201d William Greaves\u2019 posthumous collection of conversations from a 1974 cocktail party of Harlem Renaissance luminaries that was assembled by his son David. The film is a vital historical artifact, and the fact that it hails from a legendary documentarian only adds to its prestige. We\u2019re hearing it generated offers from Netflix and MUBI and others and already has invites to some other major upcoming festivals. Watch out for this one come Oscar season.<\/p>\n

\u201cBedford Park\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Sony Pictures Classics
Director<\/strong>: Stephanie Ahn
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Jan. 30
Buzz<\/strong>: In its second acquisition in two days, Sony Pictures Classics picked up another set of worldwide rights to yet another U.S. Dramatic Competition title. \u201cBedford Park\u201d is also the directorial debut of Ahn, and it\u2019s a drama about a woman (Moon Choi) struggling between her loyalty to her Korean immigrant family and her own American identity, as a child raised in New Jersey.\u202f\u202fWhen her mother gets into a car accident, it leads to a fateful meeting with Eli (Son Sukku), an ex-wrestler battling his own fractured past.<\/p>\n

In addition to Sukku being the host of IndieWire\u2019s final Chili Party in Park City<\/a>, IndieWire\u2019s review praised the film<\/a> for being rich in detail rather than sacrificing specificity for a simple love story.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHa-Chan, Shake Your Booty!\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0Sony Pictures Classics
Director<\/strong>: Josef Kubota Wladyka
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Jan. 29\u00a0
Buzz<\/strong>: One of the buzzier competition titles at Sundance not because of its star power but because of its playful title and crowd pleasing sentiment, one that earned a standing ovation for director Josef Kubota Wladyka and his mother on whom the film is based, the real Ha-Chan. Shot in Japan, Rinko Kikuchi stars in \u201cHa-Chan, Shake Your Booty!\u201d as a woman who leaves the Japanese ballroom dance scene after tragedy strikes, only to be lured back onto the dance floor after developing an infatuation for a new instructor. SPC picked up the worldwide rights to the film. It also stars Alberto Guerra, Alejandro Edda,\u00a0Yoh Yoshida, and\u00a0Dami\u00e1n\u00a0Alc\u00e1zar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Invite\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Premieres
Distributor<\/strong>:\u00a0A24
Director<\/strong>: Olivia Wilde
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Jan. 27\u00a0
Buzz<\/strong>: This was a true, old-fashioned, late night bidding war between multiple interested buyers that ended up being a 72-hour, marathon competition. IndieWire hears that Neon, Black Bear, Netflix, Searchlight, and Focus Features \u2014 and even Warner Bros. at the 11th hour \u2014 were all in the mix for what was Olivia Wilde\u2019s third feature as a director. We\u2019re also hearing that the final bidding got into the 8-figure range. Others may have bid more, but Wilde was determined to get a theatrical deal. And it\u2019s fitting too, because this was one of the starrier movies at the festival with Wilde, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, and Pen\u00e9lope Cruz all leading the ensemble cast. \u201cThe Invite\u201d quite simply is about the dinner party from hell when a couple whose marriage is on the brink have dinner with another couple that\u2019s polyamorous, but the crowds that saw it say there\u2019s a lot more layers to this one than just that. Will McCormack and Rashida Jones wrote the screenplay based on a 2019 Spanish film called \u201cSentimental.\u201d\u00a0UTA Independent Film Group and FilmNation co-repped the sale, and the film hails from Megan Ellison and Annapurna, who also previously produced Wilde\u2019s debut film \u201cBooksmart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeviticus\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Midnight
Distributor<\/strong>: Neon
Director<\/strong>: Adrian Chiarella
Date Acquired:<\/strong> Jan. 27\u00a0
Buzz<\/strong>: A queer, coming-of-age horror movie? \u201cLeviticus<\/a>\u201d is about two teenage boys who have to fight off a violent entity capable of taking the form of the other. The film plays on the real-life horrors of conversion therapy and stars Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Jeremy Blewitt, Ewen Leslie, Davida McKenzie, Nicholas Hope, Zahra Newman, and Mia Wasikowska. The film\u2019s unique genre premise from writer\/director Adrian Chiarella, his feature debut, was good enough for Neon to jump on worldwide rights in a seven-figure deal, as well as the first sale of the festival, an otherwise slow affair thus far, though one that has sparked an early bidding war for at least one other title. \u201cLeviticus\u201d will be released later this year and is actually Neon\u2019s second deal for a horror movie out of the festival, as the distributor also over the weekend joined the next film from \u201cIt Ends\u201d director Alex Ullom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Films Arriving at Sundance with Distribution<\/h3>\n
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\u2018The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist\u2019Sundance<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Premieres
Distributor<\/strong>: Focus Features
Directors<\/strong>: Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell
Buzz<\/strong>: The \u201cNavalny\u201d director teams up with producer Daniel Kwan (\u201cEverything Everywhere All At Once\u201d) on a film that goes deep into the perils and promise of artificial intelligence, all through the lens of Roher debating whether this is a good moment to bring a child into the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Brittany Griner Story\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Premieres
Distributor<\/strong>: ESPN
Director<\/strong>: Alexandria Stapleton
Buzz<\/strong>: The director of \u201cSean Combs: The Reckoning\u201d sits down with Brittany Griner, the basketball star who was famously detained and became the subject of a media and political frenzy as she hoped to secure her freedom. <\/p>\n

\u201cGive Me the Ball!\u201d<\/h2>\n

Section<\/strong>: Premieres
Distributor<\/strong>: ESPN
Directors<\/strong>: Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff
Buzz<\/strong>: More than a sports doc, this portrait of Billie Jean King looks at the tennis icon\u2019s compulsion to hide her sexual orientation and eating disorders.<\/p>\n