A24 has swooped on Jordan Firstman’s Un Certain Regard breakout Club Kid following a highly competitive bidding war.
The film, which world premiered on Friday at the Debussy Theater last Friday, drew rave responses from both audiences and critics and was the talk of the festival and market over the first weekend.
Multiple studio suitors were in for the movie with Deadline hearing that the deal grew and grew following its premiere, to surpass the eight figure mark. It eventually closed in the high teens.
The much-talked about deal is the second of the morning after Amazon scooped up the Jonathan Bailey-Natalie Portman thriller Pumping Black. The activity indicates that dominoes are starting to fall at the festival and market. There are a number of other packages being courted by studios.
Written and directed by Firstman, who also stars, Club Kid follows a washed-up party promoter who is forced to turn his life around when he suddenly finds himself responsible for his 10-year-old son.
Deadline reviewer Damon Wiseman described the film as “an unlikely but still beautifully human story” and praised Firstman’s ” elegant switch into a more serious tone, one that addresses all the questions you might have had about this man and his fitness to raise a kid.”
DEADLINE RELATED VIDEO:
During the film’s seven-minute Cannes ovation, lead actress Cara Delevingne teared up. Firstman, who also wrote and stars, picked up costar Reggie Absolom (who plays the son of Firstman’s character in the film) and started a chant in his honor. They are joined in the cast by Diego Calva (Babylon, On Swift Horses) and Eldar Isgandarov.
The film is produced by Academy Award-winner Alex Coco (Anora) and Galen Core (Lurker), alongside Topic Studio’s Ryan Heller (A Real Pain, Splitsville) and Michael Bloom.
Topic Studios also financed the film with Stay Gold as co-financier. Firstman also serves as an executive producer alongside Ian Stratford, Charles Croft and Jasmine Daghighian for Topic, Olmo Schnabel, and Daniela Taplin for Stay Gold.
The film was lensed on 35mm by Director of Photography Adam Newport-Berra, who recently won an Emmy for his work on The Studio.
UTA Independent Film Group negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmaking team. Charades International helped launch the film in Cannes.
Firstman is represented by UTA, Black Bear, The Lede Company and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz. Delevingne is repped by UTA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dean, while Calva is with WME, Entertainment 360, Lumina Management, Narrative, and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof and Fishman. Absolom is represented by Mark Jermin Management, and Isgandarov by Elevate Entertainment and Bloch Law. Coco is represented by DISSIDENT, CAA and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Feldman, Rogal, Shikora & Clark. Core is represented by UTA.
