Sundance 2013: Teen romance ‘Spectacular Now’ bought by A24
PARK CITY, Utah -- “The Spectacular Now,” one of the only dramatic films to premiere to a strong response at this year’s Sundance Film Festival so far, will soon be seen outside of this mountain town.
In the wee hours of Monday morning, newly formed distributor A24 announced that it had acquired the teen romance that features “The Descendants” star Shailene Woodley, 21, and up-and-comer Miles Teller, 25.
The movie, directed by “Smashed” filmmaker James Ponsoldt, stars Woodley as a squeaky-clean high school senior who falls for her hard-partying classmate. Early reviews have hailed the performances of the young stars, with the Hollywood Reporter calling it a “sincere, refreshingly unaffected look at teenagers and their attitudes about the future.”
A day after the movie’s debut on Friday evening, Teller said he thought early moviegoers had responded to the film because of its realistic portrayal of teen struggles, including underage drinking.
“When I grew up in high school in a very small town -- it wasn’t that we were trying to glorify drinking -- it was just something that was happening all the time,” he said. “So I think [the movie] is a pretty honest portrayal of being 17 or 18.”
A24, founded by Oscilloscope Laboratories’ David Fenkel last summer, did not say when the film would hit theaters. The company recently announced plans to release a few other teen-centric films, including Sofia Coppola’s “The Bling Ring” and Harmony Korine’s “Spring Breakers.”
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