Ahead of its world premiere as a gala presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival, Roadside Attractions and Vertical have acquired the U.S. domestic rights to Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick comedy “Babies,” the companies announced Tuesday.
The Lauren Miller Rogen-directed film will be released theatrically in 2027 and also stars Issa Rae, Dan Stevens, Kate Berlant, Zach Cherry, Ed Helms, Ashley Park, Sharon Stone and David Strathairn.
“Babies” centers on a happily married couple (Kendrick, Rogen) surrounded by friends with kids who are forced to confront their indecision about becoming parents when their divorced friend (Berlant) and her daughter move in with them. The film is described as “an honest and heartfelt comedy about defining what we really want for ourselves and the truths about parenthood that most people are too polite to say out loud.”
“Every woman I know has been asked around 1 billion times if they’re going to have children,” Miller Rogen said in a statement. “For some, the answer is obvious. For me, it was a lot more complicated. ‘Babies’ is the exploration of the funny, weird, and life-changing things that happened to me along the way to the answer. I feel so fortunate that Roadside and Vertical believe in the movie as much as I do and am thrilled to have them as partners in bringing it to theaters.”
In a joint statement, Roadside Attractions co-presidents Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff, Vertical chairman Rich Goldberg and CEO/partner Peter Jarowey added: “Lauren has made the kind of smart, perceptive comedy theatrical audiences rarely get anymore — one that stands in the tradition of the great Hollywood films that dare to examine the way we live now. ‘Babies’ taps into a conversation happening everywhere, finding humor in the pressures, expectations and contradictions of modern adulthood. It’s poignant, hilarious, deeply relatable and brought to life by an extraordinary ensemble cast.”
Monarch Media and AGC Studios co-financed and produced “Babies” with LYLAS Pictures. The film was produced by LYLAS Pictures’ Lauren Miller Rogen and Jen W. Ray, Monarch’s Steve Barnett and AGC’s Stuart Ford, and executive produced by Monarch’s Vicky Patel and Alan Powell, AGC’s Miguel A. Palos, Jr. and Zach Garrett, and LYLAS’ Sophie Høegh.
Deadline first reported the news.
