Hulu Nears Worldwide Deal for Justin Simien’s ‘Bad Hair’

Sundance 2020: The film premiered at the festival last Thursday

Bad Hair
Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Hulu is nearing a deal for worldwide distribution rights for Justin Simien’s “Bad Hair,” an individual with knowledge told TheWrap. No deal has been closed.

The film, written and directed by Simien, premiered in the Midnight section of the Sundance Film Festival last Thursday. The cast includes Elle Lorraine, Vanessa Williams, Jay Pharaoh, Lena Waithe, Blair Underwood and Laverne Cox.

“Bad Hair,” set in 1989, follows a young woman who gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, the weave starts to take on a mind of its own.

Producers are Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez and Eddie Vaisman. Oren Moverman and Alex G. Scott executive produced.

Hulu has been quite active at the Sundance Film Festival this year. Teaming up with Neon, the distributor picked up Andy Samberg’s “Palm Springs” for $17.5 million and 69 cents. That’s 69 cents more than Fox Searchlight bought “The Birth of a Nation” for in 2016 — the festival’s biggest sale ever.

A spokesperson for Endeavor Content, who is representing the sale, has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Deadline first reported the news.

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