The Moment is on the move from Park City to theaters in New York and LA with the buzzy meta mockumentary set for a heady limited opening. It’s joined by a nice indie lineup with Cannes prize-winning A Poet by Simón Mesa Soto, Jan-Ole Gerster’s vacation noir thriller Islands, Hlynur Pálmason’s The Love that Remains, documentary Natchez and more. Neon’s animated Oscar-nominated Arco expands to 300 theaters
British pop star Charli XCX plays a fictionalized version of herself in A24’s The Moment, which debuts at four theaters in New York (AMC Lincoln Square, Angelika) and LA (AMC Grove, AMC Burbank) this weekend, expanding next. The singer-songwriter’s loyal fandom snapped up tickets when they went live making this the fastest selling limited release in the distributor’s history. It’s tracking to be one of the strongest limited debuts ever after Marty Supreme launched to $875k and a $145k per theater average in December, and Asteroid City‘s $$790k, $142 PTA, back in 2023. Both of those films opened on six screens.
The film’s at around 60 sellouts and 75% of premium large format shows sold out as of today. The majority of ticket holders are under 35, and are also Charli XCX Instagram followers. Tickets for a live Alamo connected Q&A event are trading on resale marketplaces including Stubhub and Reddit.
The Moment premiered in at Sundance Jan. 23 (see Deadline review) with a dedicated fan-pit heading into a weekend of screenings ahead of the official theatrical debut. Directed by Aidan Zamiri from a screenplay he wrote with Bertie Brandes, it’s based on an original idea by Charli XCX. She stars as a rising pop star navigating the complexities of fame and industry pressure while preparing for her arena-tour debut. She also produced the film under her Studio365 label alongside David Hinojosa. The ensemble cast features Alexander Skarsgård as a toxic concert film director and Hailey Gates as trusted friend and tour creative director, with Kylie Jenner, Rachel Sennott, Kate Berlant, Rosanna Arquette and Jamie Demetriou.
Greenwich Entertainment is out with Jan-Ole Gerster’s vacation noir thriller Islands at circa 44 theaters including the Quad and AMC Empire in New York and Laemmle Glendale, Alamo Drafthouse Downtown, Frida Cinema, Laemmle Monica Film Center, AMC Burbank and Laemmle Town Center in LA. Tom (Sam Riley) teaches tennis during the day and parties at night. When an enigmatic tourist (Stacy Martin) arrives, he can’t shake the feeling he’s met her before. Tension and attraction grow until her husband (Jack Farthing) disappears and the police suspect Tom. Premiered at Berlin, see Deadline review.
Hlynur Pálmason’s The Love that Remains from Janus Films opens at NYC’s Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center today before expanding to LA next weekend and nationwide after Valentine’s Day. Iceland’s official Best International Feature Oscar selection premiered at Cannes where canine sheepdog star Panda wo the Palm Dog. The director’s follow-up to 19th-century drama Godland charts the gradual evolution of a family as Anna, an artist, and Magnús, a fisherman, live with their three children and dog in the quiet grandeur of the Icelandic countryside. As fractures in their marriage come to the surface, the couple tries to hold on to a life together and make sense of a deep and lingering devotion.
1-2 Special debuts Colombian comedy A Poet by Simón Mesa Soto — winner of the Jury Prize, Un Certain Regard, at Cannes — bows in limited release at the IFC in New York and LA’s Laemmle Royal. Colombia’s Oscar selection stars first-time actor Ubeimar Rios as middle aged and erratic Oscar, a failed writer who has given up on life. Unemployed and living with family, he wanders the streets of Medellín in a drunken stupor, lamenting the state of literature in his home country, where he has succumbed to the cliché of the tortured artist. However, the opportunity to mentor a young student offers a chance at redemption, if he doesn’t screw it up.
Oscilloscope opens Suzannah Herbert’s documentary Natchez at the Film Forum in NYC following an Academy run last fall. Captures the unsettling clash between history and memory in a small Mississippi town that’s become an antebellum tourist destination where layered mosaic of people contend with the weight of the past. See Deadline’s Doc Talk interview with Herbert and producer Darcy McKinnon.
Film Movement is out with Paying For It by Soon-Yin Lee at the Quad in NYC. Premiered at TIFF 2024. Executive produced by John Cameron Mitchell, written by Sook-Yin Lee and Joanne Sarazen based on Chester Brown’s best-selling graphic novel. Set in the late 90’s, the comedy follows the trials and travails of Chester (Dan Beirne), a cartoonist and Sonny (Emily Lê), a TV host, who are in a long-term, committed, romantic relationship until Sonny introduces the idea of opening up the couple. Laemmle Glendale starts a week-long run 2/6 with some other arthouse play through February. Sook-Yin Lee and Chester Brown are doing Q&As and in-store signings at comic book shops.
More to come