Sony Pictures Classics has nabbed worldwide rights to “A Little Prayer” following its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The exact sales price isn’t clear, but sources state the film fetched a figure in the low seven-figure range.
The deal reunites Sony Pictures Classics with Angus MacLachlan, who wrote the screenplay for “Junebug,” which the indie label released. MacLachlan directs this film, in addition to writing the script. WME Independent brokered the sale.
“A Little Prayer” follows Tammy (Jane Levy) and David (Will Pullen), a married couple in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who share home with David’s parents, Bill (David Strathairn) and Venida (Celia Weston). Things grow complicated after Bill starts to think that David is cheating on Tammy.
Critics seemed to like the film, giving particular praise to the performances. The Hollywood Reporter’s Sheri Linden wrote, “Most of the characters in this open-ended and cautiously hopeful drama are trying to hold on to something. At its center are two people who, reaching for the ethereal in the everyday, are learning to let go.”
MacLachlan’s directorial debut, which he also wrote, was “Goodbye to All That”; it premiered in 2014. He also wrote and directed “Abundant Acreage Available,” starring Amy Ryan.
After a slow start, the market for Sundance releases is heating up. Netflix shelled out $20 million for “Fair Play,” a sexually-charged drama, while Apple paid roughly the same amount for “Flora and Son,” a musical drama from “Once” director John Carney. Searchlight Pictures also struck a deal, buying “Theater Camp” for $8 million.
Deadline first reported the sale of “A Little Prayer.”