Focus Features has acquired the worldwide rights to Morgan Neville’s new documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Focus chairman Peter Kujawski announced Monday.
The new film, about the life and work of beloved kids TV host Mister Fred Rogers, set for release on June 8, 2018.
It will be a Focus Features presentation of a Tremolo Production, in association with Impact Partners and Independent Lens/PBS. It is produced by Neville, Caryn Capotosto and Nicholas Ma.
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” looks at America’s favorite neighbor and television personality, Mister Fred Rogers, and looks at the creative genius who inspired generations of children with his educational series, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”
“Morgan once again avoids making a traditional biodoc and instead takes us behind the curtain to see how Fred Rogers navigated the cultural and social issues of the second half of the twentieth century with his own brand of forward-thinking, compassionate wisdom far beyond his time,” commented Kujawski. “Mister Rogers makes us all want to be better people, and we couldn’t be more proud to be a part of telling his story today.”
“The Fred Rogers I discovered making this film is at once comfortably familiar and completely surprising. I believe Mister Rogers is the kind of voice we need to hear right now,” Neville added. “I am thrilled to work with Focus Features on taking this film out into the world, along with my collaborators at Impact Partners andIndependent Lens.”
The deal was negotiated by Endeavor Content and Judith Karfiol on behalf of the filmmakers.
Oscar 2018: Documentary Filmmaker Portraits, From Agnes Varda to Jim Carrey (Exclusive Photos)
Eight nonfiction filmmakers pose for the Race Begins issue of TheWrap Oscar Magazine.
JR and Agnes Varda, "Faces Places"
(Photographed by Shayan Asgharnia for TheWrap) "We have used the phrase 'friendship at first sight,' and that's really what happened. We met and said, 'We have to do something together. What could we do? It should be images and sound, like cinema." --Varda
Colin Hanks, "Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis"
(Photographed by Samantha Annis for TheWrap) "Initially, I resisted the idea. I don't necessarily like to stick a camera in my friends' faces after the toughest time in their lives, a terrorist attack on the other side of the world. But we realized there was an opportunity to document this and help everybody move on."
Ceyda Torun, "Kedi"
(Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap) "We went to Istanbul to do a straightforward nature documentary by filming cats and taking to people. But we realized that what people had to say about cats was profound and poetic, and that's the fastest way to strike up intimate conversations with strangers."
Jim Carrey, "Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond-Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton" (Directed by Chris Smith)
(Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap) "It's behind the scenes like has never been seen behind the scenes. And also, the character being played [in "Man in the Moon"] took over the movie and played it from the apparent grave. We all had the experience of Andy [Kaufman] being back."
John Ridley, "Let it Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992"
(Photographed by Matt Sayles for TheWrap) "Los Angeles is not Ferguson, not Baltimore. These events deserve singular examination. My desire is to use complicated storytelling to upend the audience expectations, so they walk away and think, 'What do I feel about what I thought I knew?"
Brett Morgen, "Jane"
(Photographed by Megan Mack for TheWrap) "I think that Jane Goodall is a story for our time, and yet one that transcends our time. It's not just the story of a scientist, but the story of a woman having to overcome the structural opposition of her time to fulfill and achieve her dreams."
Evgeny Afineefsky, "Cries from Syria"
(Photographed by Jana Cruder for TheWrap) "Syrian people were bringing me footage because they knew I had a voice and could tell their story to the world. They're fighting for freedom of speech, fighting for democracy, for all these human rights that we've never had."
Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, "One of Us"
(Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap) "We followed the journey of a few Hassidic Jews who were exploring the world outside their very cloistered, insular community -- and what's interesting is that there's a tenderness and homesickness for what they are leaving behind, because it cannot be replaced by secular American life." -- Grady
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TheWrap Oscar Magazine: Eight nonfiction filmmakers pose for the Race Begins issue
Eight nonfiction filmmakers pose for the Race Begins issue of TheWrap Oscar Magazine.
