Following a divisive premiere screening that saw more than 30 walkouts, the Paul Dano–Daniel Radcliffe movie “Swiss Army Man” has sold to A24, an individual familiar with the sale has told TheWrap.
A24 acquired North American distribution rights in a low seven-figure deal, beating out several other distributors. The company plans to release the film this summer, when it will serve as counter-programming to all the big-budget blockbusters that crowd theaters that time of year.
Music video directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert directed the offbeat film, which was produced by Miranda Bailey, Lawrence Inglee, Lauren Mann, Amanda Marshall, Eyal Rimmon and Jonathan Wang. Executive producers are Gideon Tadmor, William Olsson and Jim Kaufman.
“Swiss Army Man” stars Dano as a suicidal man named Hank who is about to kill himself when a corpse (Radcliffe) washes ashore.
The farting corpse eventually comes to life and helps Hank survive on his own, as well as reunite him with the woman of his dreams (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).
Three agencies negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers — WME Global and ICM Partners worked on the deal in conjunction with UTA, which reps Radcliffe. The directors are represented by Mosaic LA and have not signed with an agency yet.