Netflix has acquired the worldwide rights to Radha Blank’s directorial debut “The 40-Year-Old Version” after its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, the streamer announced Wednesday.
The film, which was also written by Blank, stars Welker White, Reed Birney, T.J. Atoms, Doris McCarthy and Peggy J. Scott. Lena Waithe produced alongside Jennifer Semler, Jordan Fudge, Blank, Rishi Rajani and Inuka Bacote-Capiga.
The comedy is about a down-on-her-luck playwright who thinks the only way to get her life back on track is to become a rapper, at age 40.
Netflix has been relatively quiet at the festival this year, but the distributor did come to the festival with its own slate, including the Taylor Swift documentary, “Miss Americana.” Plus, the streamer acquired the rights to the documentary “Mucho Mucho Amor” before the festival even began.
“The 40-Year-Old Version” will be in theaters and on Netflix later this year. The Sundance Film Festival Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Blank earlier this week.
“It took years of trying to get this film made,” Blank said. “It’s my love letter to NY and its struggling artists as well as the NY artistic institutions that raised me – Hip Hop and Theater. I made this film in the spirit of the great NY auteurs who came before me but from an angle not often seen. I’m so very proud of the artisans, many from New York, who helped me craft this movie with such loving and capable hands. As a new member of the Netflix family, I’m excited about the global audience that this film will reach. I hope it will spark the next generation of fearless filmmakers in ANY part of the world. I’m thrilled that this came together with Netflix.”
Endeavor handled the sale.