News

Sundance didn’t have the plethora of late night bidding wars we used to see in the good old days of the festival, but a number of buzziest titles are actually closing deals late into the spring and into the early summer. Over 60 films came into this year’s Sundance looking for homes, and slowly but surely a number of those are finding homes. As we previously reported, the hope was that even more distributors could get creative.

Below we’ll update all the acquisitions following the festival as they arrive.

“Hal & Harper”

Section: Indie Episodics

Buyer: Mubi

Director: Cooper Raiff

Buzz: The “Shithouse” and “Cha Cha Real Smooth” writer/director’s serialized debut follows two tight-knit siblings forced to face a past tragedy when their dad decides to sell their childhood home. It’s got a strong cast, including Raiff himself, Mark Ruffalo, Betty Gilpin, and Lili Reinhart,...

Dubai-based sales agency Cercamon has snagged international sales rights to family drama “Omaha” following its acclaimed world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it was in the U.S. dramatic competition.

The feature directorial debut from Cole Webley will screen for global buyers at the upcoming Cannes Film Market. Greenwich Entertainment previously secured North American distribution rights in a deal with UTA Independent Film Group, with a theatrical release planned for later this year.

Written by Robert Machoian (“The Killing of Two Lovers”), “Omaha” follows a struggling widower who takes his children on an unexpected cross-country road trip after a family tragedy. As their journey unfolds, his daughter begins to suspect something isn’t right. Newcomers Molly Belle Wright and Wyatt Solis play the children, with veteran actress Talia Balsam rounding out the cast in a supporting role.

“Intimate in its scope, yet emotionally monumental, this debut feature by director Cole Webley,...

Exclusive: The Andrea Iervolino Company has launched commercial film label Aventura and unveiled it as a partner on upcoming action thriller Deep Water.

Directed by Renny Harlin, the previously announced production stars Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, and Nashi, seen recently in Chinese blockbuster Creation of the Gods 2 which grossed $385 millions worldwide.

Aventura will be focused on high-concept, commercial films, blending action, suspense, and mass appeal, and will be positioned alongside The Andrea Iervolino Company’s line-up focused on auteur-driven and biographical titles such as Maserati: The Brothers, Bugatti: The Genius, and Carnival at the End of Days.

“With Aventura, we are expanding our storytelling horizons and aiming to deliver bold, thrilling entertainment to audiences worldwide in 2D and 3D,” said CEO and founder Andrea Iervolino. “This move reflects our dedication to cinematic diversity — from prestige biopics to global action spectacles.”

Deep Water follows a group of international passengers flying from Los Angeles to Shanghai.

Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Omaha, the family drama starring Past Lives‘ John Magaro, which premiered to critical acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The film, marking the feature directorial debut of Cole Webley, will be released in theaters across the country later this year.

Set against the backdrop of the 2008 economic crisis, Omaha follows a struggling father (Magaro) who embarks on a road trip across the American West with his two children, Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and Charlie (Wyatt Solis), in search of hope and a better life. What begins as a seemingly spontaneous family journey gradually reveals deeper layers of both grief and resilience, as Ella starts to sense that her father’s intentions may be masking a more profound truth.

Written by Robert Machoian (The Killing of Two Lovers), Omaha is a Sanctuary Content production, in association with Kaleidoscope Pictures and Monarch Content.

Maryse Legagneur’s drama The Last Meal (Le Dernier Repas) has earned the top prize at the Miami Film Festival, winning the $15,000 Marimbas Award in international competition. The award, chosen by a jury, goes to a narrative feature film that “best exemplifies richness and resonance for cinema’s future.”

“After 20 years of silence, a dying Reynold asks his estranged daughter, Vanessa, to share his final meals,” notes a description of The Last Meal. “As she prepares the traditional Haitian dishes of his youth, the familiar flavors unlock painful, buried memories of his life and suffering under the Duvalier dictatorship.

“Set against this backdrop of shared history, The Last Meal is a poignant tale of reconciliation, exploring the power of food, cultural memory, and confronting the past to heal fractured family bonds within the Haitian experience. A beautifully crafted film about legacy, healing, and the stories we carry in our bodies and kitchens.

For the disheveled, unnamed father in first-time feature-length director Cole Webley and writer Robert Machoian’s (The Killing of Two Lovers) poignant family drama, Omaha, a new dawn brings a new, ominous day. Awakening first his 6-year-old son, Charlie (Wyatt Solis), and then his 9-year-old daughter, Ella (Molly Belle Wright), from slumber, he invokes the promise of a family trip, a chance to re-bond after the unexpected loss of Charlie and Ella’s mother, as well as a downturn in the family’s finances. Before the father – here left unnamed to emphasize his symbolic, everyday dad status – can pack up what’s left of their prized possessions, including the family dog, a well-behaved Golden Retriever, in their...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Magenta Light Studios has secured the U.S. distribution rights for “Deep Water,” a new thriller directed by Renny Harlin, known for his work on “The Strangers” trilogy. The film, starring Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley, comes from Arclight Films and is set for a theatrical release later this year.

“Deep Water” tells the story of a group of international passengers traveling from Los Angeles to Shanghai. When their plane is forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters, they must set aside their differences and work together to escape both the sinking wreckage and the hungry predators circling them.

The cast also includes Molly Belle Wright, Angus Sampson, and Kelly Gale. The film is a collaboration between several production companies, including Simmons/Hamilton Productions, a venture led by Gene Simmons and Arclight Films’ chairman Gary Hamilton. Additional producers include Ying Ye, Neal Kingston, Grant Bradley, Dale Bradley, Adrián Guerra,...

Cole Webley’s “Omaha” (2025) is about fatherhood, loss, and change. However, the script doesn’t explicitly talk about any of it. Instead, it drip-feeds information throughout the film’s duration. It begins with a father (John Magaro) waking up at dawn and getting his kids out of bed to leave home shortly after. He asks them to pack some things but doesn’t share any specific details as to where they are going or why they are leaving home all of a sudden. Still, it seems sudden since the kids are not prepared for any of it.

The father brings the kids to the car as he has a word with a local sheriff. As an audience, we see these events mainly through the daughter, Ella’s (Molly Belle Wright) perspective. Her observant eyes sense her dad’s anxiety but cannot hear any of what he speaks. As they start driving,...

Exclusive: Magenta Light Studios, the recently announced production and distribution company of Crash producer Bob Yari, has acquired domestic rights from Arclight Films to Deep Water, a new thriller directed by Renny Harlin (The Strangers trilogy), which stars Aaron Eckhart (Sully) and Ben Kingsley (Gandhi).

The film, written by Pete Bridges (Aurora) and John Kim (Bait), will be released in theaters this year. It follows an eclectic group of international passengers whose plane, en route from L.A. to Shanghai, is forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. The terrified group is forced to work together and overcome their differences if they hope to escape their sinking plane and the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage.

Others in the cast include Molly Belle Wright (Sundance ’25’s Omaha), Angus Sampson (The Lincoln Lawyer) and Kelly Gale (Plane). A Simmons/Hamilton Production, launched by Kiss co-founder Gene Simmons and Gary Hamilton,...

There were several small but resonant dramas at Sundance this year and Cole Webley’s debut is the encapsulation of the concept. Scripted by Robert Machoian - who previously wrote and directed the equally observant family drama The Killing Of Two Lovers - it takes us on a difficult road trip across the US with a grieving dad (John Magaro), his young daughter Ella (Molly Belle Wright), even younger son Charlie (Wyatt Solis) and smiling soul of a golden retriever Rex.

The reasons for the trip are revealed late in the film but it’s obvious from the outset that they can’t be good. Dad wakes the kids early, asking Ella to pick her favourite things, before bundling them into their ageing family car, which then needs to be push-started, an eviction notice evident on the door they are leaving behind.

Dad frames this as a sort of adventure,...

The American road trip has long been a cinematic metaphor for self-discovery, transformation, and the pursuit of something just out of reach. But in Omaha, Cole Webley’s understated and deeply felt feature debut, the road is not a journey toward hope or reinvention — it is a slow, painful realization that there is no safety net left in a country that has failed its most vulnerable.

A father (John Magaro) takes his two children, Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and Charlie (Wyatt Solis), on a cross-country trip after losing their home to foreclosure. But Omaha is not about reinvention, nor does it indulge in the romanticism of new beginnings. Instead, it is a meditation on survival in a nation where policies have all but abandoned struggling families, forcing them into impossible choices.

This is not a sentimental film. Webley and screenwriter Robert Machoian strip away any grand gestures of redemption, instead capturing the intimate,...

Early one morning, a single father and widower (John Magaro)––credited as Dad––wakes up his perceptive nine-year-old Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and mischievous six-year-old Charlie (Wyatt Solis) and asks them to pack a suitcase as quickly as they can. Everyone is a bit groggy, but they load the car (including their golden retriever Rex) just as a police officer comes to staple an eviction notice on the front door. With a running push in neutral (a familiar routine), Dad and Ella get his clunker revved and started, and soon they’re on their way. Where are they going? The kids––and we––are left to figure that out.

Quiet and heartbreaking, if not slightly conventional, Omaha unfolds like a slow-burning mystery, mostly taking Ella’s skeptical, worried perspective as she tries piecing together clues about this unexpected family road trip. Soon things come into sharper, painful focus. Escaping from their Utah home,...

A family of four—an unnamed Dad (John Magaro), his children Ella and Charlie (Molly Belle Wright and Wyatt Solis), and their Golden Retriever—hit the road at the start of Omaha, towards Nebraska. We don’t get to know too much about them at first—just that they have an old car that needs a little push, and they’ve been evicted from their home, forced to collect their most treasured possessions quickly, like they are saving memorabilia during a fire. We don’t even know why they are heading there. Cole Webley’s deeply compassionate gut-punch of a movie, which premiered in the U.S. Dramatic […]

The post “Compassion Should Rule the Day, Not Punishment”: Director Cole Webley on His Sundance-Premiering Drama, Omaha first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

A family of four—an unnamed Dad (John Magaro), his children Ella and Charlie (Molly Belle Wright and Wyatt Solis), and their Golden Retriever—hit the road at the start of Omaha, towards Nebraska. We don’t get to know too much about them at first—just that they have an old car that needs a little push, and they’ve been evicted from their home, forced to collect their most treasured possessions quickly, like they are saving memorabilia during a fire. We don’t even know why they are heading there. Cole Webley’s deeply compassionate gut-punch of a movie, which premiered in the U.S. Dramatic […]

The post “Compassion Should Rule the Day, Not Punishment”: Director Cole Webley on His Sundance-Premiering Drama, Omaha first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

“Omaha” is not just the favorite audible call of Eli and Peyton Manning or the most populous city in our 37th state of Nebraska, it is also Cole Webley’s feature-film directorial debut.

Webley, previously known for his TV commercials, called Robert Machoian’s “Omaha” script “incredible.” He was specifically struck by the screenplay’s “purity,” Webley said in the IndieWire Studio, presented by Dropbox.

“When I read the script — an incredible script by Robert Machoian — I had been developing several others that I thought would be my first movie,” Webley told our Kate Erbland. “This one hit me so clearly…the purity of this script. When you’re in this business, when a script comes along that everybody knows just needs to be made into a film, the writing’s on the wall.”

“We saw that almost immediately,” he continued, “and we pivoted and said, ‘Why are we trying...

Cole Webley’s film opens with a quiet tension that feels deeply personal. A widowed father, portrayed by John Magaro with subtle pain, wakes his two young children and guides them into an old car, their uncertain path heavy with unspoken struggle. Against the stark backdrop of the 2008 economic crisis, the story tracks their movement from a seized home in the Southwest to Omaha, Nebraska—a destination as mysterious as the father’s silent motivations.

On the surface, this appears like a simple road trip—filled with cheap gas station trinkets, quick meals, and brief sparks of childhood happiness. Beneath this exterior lies a stark exploration of family fragility, grief’s deep weight, and the disintegrating myth of shared national hope.

The film premiered at Sundance, quietly capturing audience attention through its restrained storytelling. Webley’s direction feels both unflinching and compassionate, capturing the stark, empty American terrain while keeping...

A Brigham Young University graduate and longtime Utah resident, Cole Webley’s repeatedly testified how much it means to have his debut feature premiere here after years of rejected shorts. The Utah runs deep in Omaha, whose opening minutes seem to take place in, if not the exact neighborhood, a dead ringer for the suburban setting of fellow Byu alum and screenwriter Robert Machoian’s The Killing of Two Lovers. One morning a father (John Magaro) wakes adolescent daughter Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and even younger son Charlie (Wyatt Solis), piles them and adorable golden retriever Rex into the car, and gets […]

The post Sundance 2024: Omaha, Seeds, The Dating Game first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

A Brigham Young University graduate and longtime Utah resident, Cole Webley’s repeatedly testified how much it means to have his debut feature premiere here after years of rejected shorts. The Utah runs deep in Omaha, whose opening minutes seem to take place in, if not the exact neighborhood, a dead ringer for the suburban setting of fellow Byu alum and screenwriter Robert Machoian’s The Killing of Two Lovers. One morning a father (John Magaro) wakes adolescent daughter Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and even younger son Charlie (Wyatt Solis), piles them and adorable golden retriever Rex into the car, and gets […]

The post Sundance 2024: Omaha, Seeds, The Dating Game first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

There are many longstanding traditions in this entertainment industry of ours, and one of them — not necessarily the greatest, but certainly one of them — is the Sundance Road Trip Movie. Independent films about families and/or mismatched associates on a lengthy trek around the country or the world, in which a series of adventures and/or misadventures usually prove that the journey was just as important as the destination. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s sad, but always it screams “Sundance.”

Not every Sundance has a Sundance Road Trip Movie, but the festival just wouldn’t be the same without films like “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Paris, Texas,” “Y tu mamá también,” “Smoke Signals,” “Tumbleweeds,” “The Motorcycle Diaries,” “A Real Pain,” “The Puffy Chair,” “Wristcutters: A Love Story,” “The End of the Tour,” “Will & Harper” or “The Brave Little Toaster.” And now, joining that legacy is Cole Webley’s “Omaha,...

Sundance film festival: The Past Lives and September 5 actor leads a beautifully made, if slightly too withholding, road-trip drama

Omaha, Cole Webley’s debut film from a screenplay by Robert Machoian (The Killing of Two Lovers), is very much a product of the Sundance film festival, both literally – the duo first connected here – and, for better and occasionally for worse, in tone. Spare, elegiac, quiet but affecting, this John Magaro-led character study is, fittingly, filmed and mostly set in the festival’s home state (for now) of Utah. It’s a tense family drama that mostly keeps its cards close to the chest and an ode, at least visually, to the liminal, fragile states one can enter on the road in the American west.

The bedsheets are still warm and the dawn light still pale when Ella, played by remarkable newcomer Molly Belle Wright, and her younger brother Charlie...

In the moving Sundance drama “Omaha,” the bedsheets are still warm when the life of a family is thrown into disarray on the morning they are mandated to vacate their home. The mother’s passing and the 2008 financial collapse contributed to the precariousness that’s put them in this predicament. Few belongings will accompany them on their road trip to an uncertain future.

In the driver seat of a barely functional car, a remarkably subdued John Magaro plays a widower and single father who, for most of the running time, is referred to simply as Dad. His perceptive 9-year-old daughter Ella (Molly Belle Wright) helps him push the moribund vehicle on the passenger side so it can start. From the look of it, they’ve done this plenty of times before, as the routine of a shared burden communicates the kids’ unconditional support for a parent desperately doing his best.

It’s enormously gratifying to see John Magaro in a solo leading role. While he was one point of the love triangle in Past Lives, a joint lead in September 5 and First Cow, and an ensemble standout in Showing Up, seldom has this undervalued actor been given the opportunity to carry a film to the extent he does in Omaha. Scripted by The Killing of Two Lovers writer-director Robert Machoian, Cole Webley’s debut feature aims for a similar stripped-down rawness in its account of a bereaved father facing desperate choices.

Gentle to a fault, the drama for much of its running time has a weightlessness familiar from many Sundance movies, an impression amplified in the delicate score by Christopher Bear, formerly of the indie rock band Grizzly Bear, and in a sprinkling of hushed vocal tracks. It’s also there in the expressive use of landscape, with unspoken feelings...

Kicking off the Sundance Film Festival Dramatic Competition this year is Omaha, an increasingly bleak road trip with a recently widowed father, his two kids and their dog. Set against the 2008 financial crisis, Omaha begins with a dad (John Magaro) facing foreclosure on his house after losing what appears to be everything professionally as well as the tragic death of his wife and mother to their two kids, Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and Charlie (Wyatt Solis).

As the film begins, he faces this latest crisis and gathers up the kids and their pet dog to jump into the increasingly unreliable family car, which usually only starts and gets going as Ella runs alongside and helps push it forward. And so they are off on an unspecified journey across the American Southwest with stops along the way that begin to explain — however subtly — this dad’s deep money problems. There’s...

Cole Webley, a Salt Lake City-based director, spent decades dreaming of premiering one of his films in Park City. The Utah native has attended the Sundance Film Festival for nearly 20 years, waiting in long lines as the snow fell around him, shivering in the cold in hopes of catching a hot new movie. He’d also tried and failed to get five of his short films into competition.

“To say that I had an affinity towards the festival would be an understatement,” Webley says. “It’s been the pinnacle of what I had hoped to achieve.”

This year, Webley finally gets his wish. “Omaha,” a drama about a struggling father embarking on a cross-country trip with his two daughters, will debut on the first day of Sundance. The inclusion of “Omaha” is meaningful to him in other ways. The film was largely shot around Utah with a local crew, so...

Gilmore Girls is the perfect cold-weather, bingeworthy comfort show that has accompanied millions of Rory and Lorelai fans all around the world. The series that first aired in 2000 is an autumn and winter staple, that’s for sure, but an even better way to indulge in the Christmas spirit is to take one of the widely loved Gilmore Girls stars and put them in a Christmas movie.

Lets all bow down to Lionsgate, because the production company together with director Dallas Jenkins were behind making this wish become reality. The Christmas comedy drama movie The Best Christmas Pageant Ever connects a Gilmore Girls star to the festive season, and it couldn’t be a greater delight. The movie, which was released for the big screens on November 8, 2024, is now finally available to rent on Apple TV+ or Prime Video. As the adaptation of the 1972 children’s novel of the same name by Barbara Robinson,...

Top L–R: The Legend of Ochi, Rabbit Trap, East of Wall, Seeds Center Row L–R: Rebuilding, Together, Love, Brooklyn, Jimpa Bottom L–R: Hal & Harper, Selena y Los Dinos, The Dating Game, Brides screen at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival‘s lineup will include 87 feature films and six episodic projects. Sundance received 15,775 submissions from 156 countries, including 4,138 feature-length film submissions. The 87 films selected represent 33 countries and territories, with 36 of the chosen films coming from first-time feature filmmakers.

“The Sundance Film Festival remains steadfast in its commitment to elevating unique and urgent voices in independent storytelling. Audiences can expect a 2025 program that showcases varied and vibrant filmmaking globally,” stated Robert Redford, Sundance Institute Founder and President.

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival will run January 23rd through February 2nd. For ticket information, visit festival.sundance.org.

“The Festival is our most significant public program as an Institute and builds...

Chicago – The best Christmas movie of 2024 is “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” (in theaters now) and the story how it got to the screen is all through the doggedness of its director, Dallas Jenkins (in Podtalk below). The film features Judy Greer and comedian Pete Holmes, plus a stellar cast of younger actors putting on the title event.

Judy Greer is Grace Bradley, a Mom raising her two kids with husband Bob (Pete Holmes). When the yearly Christmas pageant comes along on a significant 75th anniversary, the whole town anticipates the event as staged every year by their church’s Sunday school. When the pageant’s director is forced on the sidelines due to injury, it is up to Grace to direct the pageant. There is a hitch that no one expected though … the outcast and rebellious Herdman kids, six strong, decide that They want to be cast in the main roles,...

The holiday season is all about miracles, and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is continuing to deliver an almighty one at the box office. Directed by Dallas Jenkins, best known for the breakout faith-based series The Chosen, the heartwarming adaptation of Barbara Robinson’s beloved holiday tale has been a huge hit with audiences looking for the warm and fuzzies in the colder months, bringing in an estimated $4.85 million this Thanksgiving weekend across 1,779 locations, which brings its domestic total to a heavenly $32 million. The movie stars Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, and Molly Belle Wright, while Gilmore Girls legend Lauren Graham serves as the narrator of the movie with her usual warmth and quick wit.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Box Office (North America): 2nd Monday Update ( Photo Credit – YouTube )

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever hits a significant milestone at the box office in North America. The comedy-drama has been in the domestic top 5 for weeks, but it has slowed down a little now because of big-budget movies like Red One. The tentpole movies Gladiator II and Wicked Part 1 are creating a lot of buzz, and the hype around them is increasing every day.

Gladiator II is expected to cross the $200 million mark this weekend because of its early overseas release. Meanwhile, Wicked Part 1 is also expected to collect $200 million worldwide on its debut weekend. This Christmas comedy-drama, based on Barbara Robinson’s 1972 novel, was directed by Dallas Jenkins and features Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, Molly Belle Wright, and Lauren Graham.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was theatrically released by Lionsgate in the United States.

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film reviews for three current holiday films … “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” (in theaters) “An Almost Christmas Story” (streaming on Disney+ since November 15th) and “Christmas on the Ranch.” (currently streaming on Hulu).

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is an adaptation of the popular 1972 novel and features Judy Greer and Pete Holmes. “An Almost Christmas Story” is Walt Disney Studios holiday fare, directed by David Lowery. And “Christmas on the Ranch” is one of the newest locations for the popular holiday romance genre.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is currently in theaters. Featuring Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, Lauren Graham, Molly Belle Wright and Beatrice Schneider. Screenplay adapted by Platt Clark, Darin McDaniel and Ryan Swanson. Directed by Dallas Jenkins. Rated “PG”

“An Almost Christmas Story” is streaming on Disney+ since Featuring the voices of Jim Gaffigan, Cary Christopher, Estella Madrigal and John C. Reilly.

Ariella Glaser will star in the upcoming mystery thriller Flavia, an adaptation of Alan Bradley’s bestselling book series about a young investigator who solves a difficult family mystery. Martin Freeman, Jonathan Pryce, and Toby Jones will front the film’s ensemble cast.

The plot revolves around an 11-year-old protagonist who discovers a dead body at her family’s dilapidated British manor house and becomes involved in a murder inquiry targeting her father. Glaser will play Ophelia de Luce, the sister of the main character played by Molly Belle Wright.

Veteran filmmaker Bharat Nalluri will bring the story to life, and Susan Coyne—known for her work on “Daisy Jones and the Six”will handle the screenplay. The concept comes at a time when there is a growing interest in adolescent detective stories, similar to the recent success of the BBC-Netflix series “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.”

Glaser...

Exclusive: White Bird star Ariella Glaser has boarded Flavia, the Martin Freeman-starring adventure movie about an 11-year-old detective.

Glaser stars as Ophelia de Luce, the sister of the movie’s protagonist, who is played by Molly Belle Wright. Freeman, Jonathan Pryce and Toby Jones are also aboard.

Flavia is based on the Alan Bradley series of books centered on the pre-teen detective. The movie from Bharat Nalluri and Daisy Jones and the Six writer Susan Coyne starts with the main character finding a dead body at her decaying British manor house, with her father accused of the murder. She subsequently dives into her own investigation, unearthing long held family secrets and pitting herself against the true murderer. The movie comes hot on the heels of the BBC-Netflix’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder adaptation, which also follows a young amateur sleuth.

Sky recently picked up Flavia...

Initially a magazine short story, then expanded to novel form in 1972, Barbara Robinson’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” has remained a holiday staple ever since. Its enjoyable central conceit of Roald Dahl-style comedic nastiness — the first sentence pegs principal figures as “absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world” — no doubt explains an enduring popularity among young readers, while there’s just enough inspirational uplift by the end to earn parental approval.

That equation gets reversed to a degree in this first big-screen version from Dallas Jenkins, whose Biblical-times series “The Chosen” set a high mark among faith-based entertainments for the small screen in recent years. His “Pageant” goes a little too sentimental and instructive too soon for those viewers whose attention spans are better suited to the antic earlier going. Nonetheless, this is a well-cast, well-crafted diversion for the whole family that’s already done...

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Box Office (North America): Debut Weekend Update( Photo Credit – YouTube )

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, starring Judy Greer and Pete Holmes, has opened to positive reviews from the critics. The film, which had a reported budget of less than $10 million, opened in the theatres this Friday and has surpassed the industry’s projections. Scroll below for the deets.

The Christmas comedy-drama was directed by Dallas Jenkins and is based on the 1972 novel by Barbara Robinson. It is about a group of juvenile delinquent siblings, the Herdmans. The movie features Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, Molly Belle Wright, and Lauren Graham. The movie made it to the third spot in the domestic box office chart but failed to achieve the second spot by a slight difference. The second spot has been taken by Hugh Grant’s Heretic. The critics have also praised it. Venom: The Last Dance...

Ordinary Angels. Unsung Heroes. White Bird. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Four uplifting movies. One common producer. The man with the plan sees a commonality in all of these wildly different stories, which might just inspire you in their own unique ways. Andrew Erwin backed each of these recent films, with the latest perhaps garnering the most laughs. Directed by Dallas Jenkins (of The Chosen fame), The Best Christmas Pageant Ever stars comedic greats Judy Greer and Pete Holmes but also weaves together a heartwarming tale about the magic of Christmas and coming together as a community. MovieWeb recently caught up with Erwin to confirm the unifying elements across his last four feature films.

"Redemption is at the core of the stories that we tell," Erwin told us. "And if you look at all those four movies... leading up to [The Best Christmas Pageant Ever] with Dallas Jenkins, you know,...

In Dallas Jenkins’ The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a group of kids wreak daily havoc on Emmanuel, a small town somewhere in America. The Herdmans, according to the narrator (Lauren Graham) of this uneven tale, are “the worst kids in the history of the world” — a title earned by Ralph (Mason D. Nelligan), Leroy (Ewan Wood), Claude (Matthew Lamb), Ollie (Essek Moore), Gladys (Kynlee Heiman) and Imogen (Beatrice Schneider) through a host of shenanigans ranging from personally offensive to downright harmful.

A nifty montage at the beginning of the holiday feature shows the Herdmans bullying kids and adults with impunity; taking the Lord’s name in vain; smoking cigars; stealing from local businesses and even setting fire to a dilapidated shed. Because of their repugnant behavior, residents of the community hardly believed the Herdmans were “real,” says the narrator. “No one knew why they were that way.” And it appears that few people — including,...

It’s not that clear cut that Sony’s Venom: The Last Dance will take No. 1 in its third weekend; the movie looking to do around $12M. Exhibitors are betting that A24’s Heretic could do as much, if not more. A24 projections are at $8M at 3,200 theaters for the Hugh Grant horror movie directed by A Quiet Place architects Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.

Heretic, which made its world premiere at TIFF, follows two young Mormon missionaries, who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The R-rated movie counts 94% certified fresh reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. There were some sneaks in Salt Lake City, Ut, but overall previews kick off Thursday at 7Pm. The target is young folks, 18-34.

Venom 3 had a very good second Tuesday on Election Day of $3.3M,...

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever debuts with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes audience score ahead of its release. Directed by Dallas Jenkins, the creator of The Chosen, and based on the 1972 novel by Barbara Robinson, the upcoming Christmas film follows six troublemaking siblings who unexpectedly take over a town's Christmas pageant and end up teaching them the true meaning of the holiday. The cast includes Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, Molly Belle Wright, Kirk B.R. Woller, and Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham as the narrator.

Now, ahead of its release, the new Christmas movie has debuted to a perfect audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Following its premiere in Los Angeles on November 2, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever has a 100% on the Popcornmeter with 250+ verified ratings. This is in addition to its strong 92% score on the Tomatometer with 12 reviews from critics.

What The Best Christmas Pageant Ever's Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Means...

Based on the 1972 children's book of the same name by Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever lengthens the story but fails to dig deep while exploring its own true meaning of Christmas. Now that it's November, stores, companies, and the media will all be leaning head-first into the Christmas spirit, even if the event itself is still almost two months away. This is the cycle of Christmas cheer in film and television. Though it's being released right on schedule, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is trying to combat the commodification of Christmas, if only slightly.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Director Dallas JenkinsRelease Date November 8, 2024Studio(s) Kingdom Story CompanyWriters Platte Clark, Darin McDaniel, Ryan SwansonCast Tom Young, Jenni Burke, Isla Verlot, Nolan Grantham, Wyatt Dewar, Danielle Hoetmer, Mason D Nelligan, Essek Moore, Ewan Wood, Beatrice Schneider, Kynlee Heiman, Molly Belle Wright, Matthew Lamb, Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez, Kirk B.R. Woller,...

There is a reason certain Christmas movies stand the test of time and return year after year, and also a reason the Hallmark-style factory-made product is easily forgotten. It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story are pure examples of the former. They are perennials, classics.

In fact, that sweetly nostalgic 1983 A Christmas Story is what I thought of most when watching the latest entry in the genre, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which may not be the best Christmas movie ever, but it grabs your heart and makes you smile. It also is that increasingly rare so-called “faith based” film that doesn’t try to hit you on the head with a sermon. Instead, it manages to be thoroughly entertaining family fare that also uncovers the true, not commercial, meaning of the holiday. I wouldn’t be surprised if this Lionsgate release becomes a perennial itself.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever looks like one of those corny Christian comedies about how God provides the answer to all things and how all families should embrace Christianity. Its silly trailer didn’t inspire much confidence, but after watching this in a theater, I gotta admit, I’m feeling that Christmas spirit. I’ve only ever seen one or two Christmas pageants in my short life, but this film certainly lives up to the title as the best one I’ve witnessed. Led by a never-better Judy Greer and a terrific young performance from Beatrice Schneider, this is an uncommonly terrific family comedy.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Review

The Herdmans are the worst children ever. We open up on a monologue talking about how terrible these six poor children are. They terrorize their little town and seem to bring nothing but trouble while everybody else is cheerful and...

If there’s one thing the world needs, it’s yet another Christmas movie. That probably sounds sarcastic, but I mean it. The endless deluge of Christmas films, year after year, has watered the holiday down into a genial but middling medley of cozy trappings and tropes. The Hallmark Channel bears a lot of the blame for this, pumping out hundreds of blandly reassuring holiday films in rapid succession, all with the same four or five plots and (slightly) different casting.

Ironically, this overwhelming wave of (hopefully) well-intentioned Christmas movies has led to a situation not unlike the one found in “A Charlie Brown Christmas Special.” This holiday has been overly commercialized for so long now that it’s hard to remember it any other way, and the actual message of the season has been lost in the flood of corporate cash-ins.

At the end of the “Charle Brown Christmas,...

Enter to win four tickets for you and your family to attend an early screening of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! The screenings will take place on Saturday, November 2. Winners can select their preferred theater and redeem their tickets here!

Synopsis: The Herdmans are absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, they steal, they bully … and now they’ve hijacked the town Christmas pageant. Directed by Dallas Jenkins (Chosen) and based on the international bestseller by Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever follows six siblings who sneak into church searching for snacks and walk away with the lead roles in the town pageant. Grace (Judy Greer) is directing the performance for the very first time; she and her daughter Beth (Molly Belle Wright) and husband Bob (Pete Holmes) are in over their heads, especially against a town that wants them to kick the Herdmans out.

A mystery is officially afoot at Protagonist Pictures as cameras are currently rolling on their family mystery novel adaptation Flavia. To celebrate, the first image was shared featuring The Best Christmas Pageant Ever star Molly Belle Wright as the titular 11-year-old detective alongside her co-stars Martin Freeman and Toby Jones. Together, they'll be wrapped up in a devious case of murder at a British manor based on the beloved series of novels by New York Times bestselling author Alan Bradley. Production on the film, which hails from Boy Swallows Universe episode director Bharat Nalluri, is slated to last for eight weeks before wrapping up at the end of November.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever features the Herdmans, who are absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. The children sneak into a church searching for snacks and walk away with the lead roles in the town pageant. These kids might be the worst, and are widely hated by the town, but they might unwittingly teach the community the true meaning of Christmas.

Grace (Judy Greer) is directing the performance for the very first time and feeling the pressure, although she is absolutely determined to make this the best Christmas pageant ever. She and her daughter Beth (Molly Belle Wright) and husband Bob (Pete Holmes) are in over their heads, especially against a town that wants them to kick the Herdmans out. This film, which is directed by The Chosen's Dallas Jenkins and based on the international bestseller by Barbara Robinson, comes to theaters on November 8.

Related...

Upcoming feature film “Flavia,” a family adventure about a precocious young detective, has sold across Europe, including to Sky in the U.K.

The film, which features “The Hobbit” star Martin Freeman opposite Molly Belle Wright (“Deep Water”) as the eponymous detective Flavia, has started principal photography, with a first look image showing the duo alongside Toby Jones (“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”) in a dusty library. It is due to wrap in November.

Karan Gill (“The Decameron”), Annette Badland (“Ted Lasso”) and Jonathan Pryce ( “Slow Horses”) also star.

“Flavia” is directed by Bharat Nalluri (“Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day”) and based on Alan Bradley’s book series about 11-year-old amateur detective Flavia de Luce. Susan Coyne (“Daisy Jones and the Six”) adapted the script

“When Flavia finds a dead body at her decaying British manor house and her father is accused of the murder, Flavia dives...

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever opens in theaters November 8th.

The Herdmans are absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, they steal, they bully…and now they’ve hijacked the town Christmas pageant.

Six siblings who sneak into church searching for snacks and walk away with the lead roles in the town pageant. Grace (Judy Greer) is directing the performance for the very first time; she and her daughter Beth (Molly Belle Wright) and husband Bob (Pete Holmes) are in over their heads, especially against a town that wants them to kick the Herdmans out. But the play’s mischievous stars might unwittingly teach a community the true meaning of Christmas.

https://bestchristmaspageantever.movie

Wamg is giving away Atom Movie Tickets to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever in St. Louis.

4 Family Packs: 4pm show or 7pm show. Each winner will receive 4 tickets.

Email michelle@wearemoviegeeks.

Two new posters have been released for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (see below). The film will be in theaters on November 8, 2024! You can get tickets here!

Synopsis: The Herdmans are absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, they steal, they bully … and now they’ve hijacked the town Christmas pageant. Directed by Dallas Jenkins (Chosen) and based on the international bestseller by Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever follows six siblings who sneak into church searching for snacks and walk away with the lead roles in the town pageant. Grace (Judy Greer) is directing the performance for the very first time; she and her daughter Beth (Molly Belle Wright) and husband Bob (Pete Holmes) are in over their heads, especially against a town that wants them to kick the Herdmans out. But the play’s mischievous stars might unwittingly teach a community the true meaning of Christmas.

The countdown to the holiday season has become!

Earlier this week, Lionsgate debuted the trailer for the upcoming Christmas holiday comedy movie The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was released starring Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, Molly Belle Wright, and Lauren Graham.

Here’s the synopsis: “The Herdmans are absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, they steal, they bully…and now they’ve hijacked the town Christmas pageant. Directed by Dallas Jenkins and based on the international bestseller by Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever follows six siblings who sneak into church searching for snacks and walk away with the lead roles in the town pageant. Grace (Greer) is directing the performance for the very first time; she and her daughter Beth (Wright) and husband Bob (Holmes) are in over their heads, especially against a town that wants them to kick the Herdmans out. But...

Hold onto your coffee cups, Lauren Graham is back, and this time she's bringing that 1000 miles-per-hour dialogue to the festive season for the first time since Bad Santa, which is absolutely not the kind of film this one is! The first trailer for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever has officially dropped, and were already getting cosy Stars Hollow vibes from it. Directed by The Chosens Dallas Jenkins, the film is based on Barbara Robinsons beloved book and stars Graham alongside Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, and Molly Belle Wright.