Ann Hathaway Neon has set a theatrical release for William Oldroyd’s thriller "Eileen" After taking Domestic out of Sundance.
The movie "Eileen,” which debuted at this year’s Sundance film festival, is set to arrive in theaters amidst the rush of the year-end awards season.
The movie debuted to strong positive reviews at Sundance. However, its high price tag, according to sources, is said to be in the range of $15 million, making it difficult for the film to secure a distribution deal. It languished on the market for roughly two months as several studios declined the production despite the combined star wattage of Thomasin McKenzie and Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway and a twisty plot.
However, Neon has purchased its North American rights to an adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh’s acclaimed novel of the same title and has slated the 1960s-set queer melodrama for a platform release in New York City and Los Angeles on Dec. 1 before going wide on Dec. 8.
Jeff Deutchman negotiated the deal on behalf of Neon, WME Independent, and Fifth Season, but the financial details of the sale were not revealed.
Oldroyd’s connection to Sundance started in 2013 when his short film Best won the Short Film Competition. Eileen scored 88% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with some critics coming away from its Park City, UT premiere in January.
Some of Neon’s recent movies include “All the Beauty, the Bloodshed" and the Oscar-nominated “Triangle of Sadness.
On the other hand, ‘Eileen’ could be awarded bait. Jessica Kiang of Variety called it a “droll, genre-devouring portrait, immaculately crafted art of perversity, and the central roles are showy.
The rest of the ensemble in the movie includes Marin Ireland, Shea Whigham, and Owen Teague. William Oldroyd's “Lady Macbeth” directs from a script by Moshfegh who adapted ‘Eileen’ with Luke Goebel.
Fifth Season, Likely Story’s Stefanie Azpiazu, Anthony Bregman, and Peter Cron produced the movie along with Goebel and William Oldroydand Moshfegh’s Omniscient Productions. The movie also got backing from Film4.
The movie starring 40-year-old Oscar winner Anne Hathaway is centered on the 2015 debut novel by Otessa Moshfegh. It’s set during a bitter 1964 Massachusetts winter when young secretary Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) becomes close to the glamorous new counselor Rebecca (Hathaway, a confident counselor to the troubled teenagers at the prison where they work.
Their friendship takes an unexpected turn, changing both their lives. Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret, throwing Eileen off balance onto a sinister path.
Moshfegh said, “Seeing my book come to life on screen has always been a career goal. The premiere at Sundance was a beautiful glimpse of what is to come,” she concluded.