A24 has found “Friendship.”
The indie powerhouse has acquired U.S. distribution for “Friendship,” the Andrew DeYoung film that stars Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, out of the Toronto International Film Festival. The deal is said to be in the low 7-figure range, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap.
Robinson plays Craig Waterman, a suburban dad whose life takes an unexpected turn when he befriends his enigmatic new neighbor, Austin Carmichael, played by Rudd. Kate Mara, Jack Dylan Grazer, Josh Segarra, Billy Bryk, Jason Veasey and Jon Glaser also star.
DeYoung also wrote the screenplay for the movie, which was one of the breakout titles at TIFF this year, with the film receiving raves for how hilarious and uncomfortable the movie made audiences. (These are hallmarks of Robinson’s brand of comedy, particularly his Netflix sketch show “I Think You Should Leave.”) The movie played as part of the Midnight Madness program at the festival.
“Friendship” was produced by Nick Weidenfeld, Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz and John Holland. Rudd, Tracy Rosenblum, DeYoung and Alexis Garcia is exec producer. It is repped by WME Independent and UTA for domestic along with Fifth Season. DeYoung is repped by Dan McManus/Rise Management.
Earlier this week HBO put in a series order for “The Chair Company,” which DeYoung executive produced and directed the pilot of. Robinson stars and co-created the series alongside Zach Kanin which Adam McKay and Hyperobject executive produce.
This is the latest A24 acquisition of the fall festival season, following their high-profile acquisitions of Luca Guadagnino’s Daniel Craig-led “Queen” ahead of its premiere at Venice and Brady Corbet’s sprawling “The Brutalist,” after it won the Silver Lion at Venice. (They beat out Searchlight and several other suitors for “The Brutalist.”)
