Searchlight Pictures has purchased the US rights to Emma Thompson comedy film Good Luck To You, Leo Grande – which premiered at Sundance Film Festival.
Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, is a comedy about a retired school teacher and widow (played by Emma Thompson) who decides to hire a sex worker after a boring marriage. Daryl McCormack (who recently appeared in Amazon’s The Wheel Of Time series) also stars in the film, which has been purchased by Disney subsidiary Searchlight Pictures. The company, which usually picks up indie, awards-y movies such as Nomadland, has acquired the US rights to the film.
Variety reports that Seachlight has bought the rights for $7.5 million. As the company has been a subsidiary of Disney since the sale of 20th Century Fox, Good Luck To You, Leo Grande will be released exclusively on Disney-owned streaming platform Hulu. The move to streaming is reportedly a bid to push Emma Thompson into this years awards race.
Helmed by Australian director Sophie Hyde, the screenplay for the film was written by UK TV writer Katy Brand. Genesius Pictures and Cornerstone Films produced.
This is the second Sundance purchase made by Searchlight, as it also recently acquired the Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan-led Fresh. The horror will also debut on Hulu in the US on 4th March, before being released internationally on Disney+ and Star+ later in the year.
The sale of Sundance films has been slow going this year, with the sales so far mostly going to streaming platforms. Cha Cha Real Smooth, starring Dakota Johnson, has been picked up by Apple, which will most likely release the film through Apple TV+. Other purchases include Sony Pictures Classics picking up Bill Nighy movie Living. With box office sales still affected by the pandemic (as Sundance itself has been, as it was decided it would be held virtually at the last minute), studios seem less eager to snap up films for theatrical release.
Good Luck To You, Leo Grande does not currently have a UK release date, but we’ll bring you more news on the film when we hear it.
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