Amazon Studios has picked up worldwide rights to “Sylvie’s Love,” a period romance starring Tessa Thompson, according to an individual with knowledge of the deal.
The film, which Amazon acquired the worldwide rights to for a high seven-figure price tag, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Written and directed by Eugene Ashe, “Sylvie’s Love” is a lush love story set in the cool jazz era of New York City that spans several years in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Thompson gives a powerful performance in the film as Ashe, melds music into his romance for a rich period piece. “Sylvie’s Love” played in competition in the U.S. Dramatic section.
The film follows Sylvie (Thompson) who meets aspiring saxophonist Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha) when he takes a job at her father’s record store in Harlem. After a summer romance that comes to an end, the two fatefully reconnect several years later and find that their feelings for each other have never disappeared.
Producers on the project included Asomugha, Gabrielle Glore, Jonathan T. Baker, and Matthew Thurm. Executive producers included Thompson, Bobbi Sue Luther, Akbar Gbajabiamila and Matt Rachamkin.
“Sylvie’s Love” also stars Eva Longoria, Aja Naomi King (“The Birth Of A Nation”), Alano Miller (“Loving”), Erica Gimpel (“God Friended Me”), Jemima Kirke (“Girls”), John Magaro (“The Big Short”), Lance Reddick (“John Wick”), MC Lyte, Regé-Jean Page (“Roots”), Ryan Michelle Bathe (“This Is Us”) and Tone Bell (“Little”).
In addition to “Sylvie’s Love” Amazon picked up North American rights to Phyllida Lloyd’s “Herself” during the festival, and then shelled out $12 million for Alan Ball’s “Uncle Frank.”