IFC Films has acquired the U.S. rights to “The Rental,” Dave Franco’s directorial debut thriller starring Alison Brie, the distributor announced Thursday.
IFC Films will release “The Rental” on July 24 nationwide. The film was written by Franco and Joe Swanberg and co-stars Dan Stevens, Jeremy Allen White and Sheila Vand.
“The Rental” follows two couples who embark on a weekend getaway to a seemingly perfect house they’ve booked online. But what begins as a celebratory weekend for the four close friends turns into something far more sinister as secrets they’ve kept from each other are exposed and they realize they may not be alone.
Franco, Swanberg and Mike Demski developed the story. “The Rental” was produced and financed by Black Bear Pictures, with Franco, Elizabeth Haggard, Teddy Schwarzman, Ben Stillman, Swanberg and Christopher Storer serving as producers. Michael Heimler and Sean Durkin served as executive producers.
“We’re beyond excited to partner with Dave on his directorial debut. He is a clear talent in front of and behind the camera and we are thrilled to bring this film to American audiences,” Arianna Bocco, EVP of acquisitions and productions at IFC Films, said in a statement.
“I’ve admired the IFC brand and their films for as long as I can remember. I couldn’t be more excited about partnering with them for my directorial debut. They have such a strong track record when it comes to elevated genre films, which makes them the perfect home for ‘The Rental,’” Franco added in a statement.
The deal for the film was negotiated by IFC Films’ EVP of acquisitions and productions Arianna Bocco and director of acquisitions Aijah Keith with Endeavor Content on behalf of Black Bear Pictures and the filmmakers. STXinternational is handling international sales for the film.
Franco most recently starred in Michael Bay’s “6 Underground” and “If Beale Street Could Talk” before that. He also served as a producer on the Sundance film from A24, “Zola.”
IFC has been busy with acquisitions of late, nabbing Ethan Hawke’s biopic “Tesla” and the Sundance drama from Durkin starring Jude Law and Carrie Coon, “The Nest.”
IFC also released some first-look images from “The Rental,” which has yet to make its premiere. You can see the new images below:
Deadline first reported the news.