Magnolia Pictures announced Monday that it has entered into a domestic co-distribution deal with Great Point Media to release “Damsel” a western directed by David and Nathan Zellner that premiered at Sundance and Berlin earlier this year and is screening this week at SXSW.
“Damsel” follows the wealthy pioneer Samuel Alabaster (Robert Pattinson) as he heads west to find and marry the love of his life, Penelope (Mia Wasikowska), while being accompanied by a wayward drunk named Parson Henry (David Zellner) and a miniature horse called Butterscotch. What starts as a simple journey soon grows chaotic, increasingly blurring the lines between hero, villain and damsel.
“We’ve been incredibly fortunate working with Great Point Media in making Damsel and are thrilled to be partnering with Magnolia for the release, their enthusiasm means so much to us,” said the Zellners. “Robert and Mia are amazing in the film and doing things we’ve not seen them do before. It’s meant to be seen big and loud, and we’re excited that it will have a proper life on the silver screen before being (lovingly) watched on iPhones while multitasking.”
The Zellners produced the film with Chris Ohlson and are repped by ICM and Rise Management. The deal was negotiated by Magnolia co-EVP Dori Begley and SVP of Acquisitions John Von Thaden, with ICM Partners and Robert Halmi of Great Point Media on behalf of the filmmakers.