No Sundance movie premiered to as much love-it-or-hate-it buzz than Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s “Swiss Army Man.” While some people utterly despised the film and walked out of its screenings, others found much to praise, and the movie has since grown into some kind of instant cult film over the past week. Fortunately, audiences will eventually get to see what the fuss is about as A24 has picked up North American distribution rights.
The survival indie stars a bearded Paul Dano as Hank. As he prepares to commit suicide on a deserted island, Hank discovers a corpse on the shore (Daniel Radcliffe) and uses it as a survival resource after it comes to life; this includes using the farting corpse’s body as a jet ski and its penis as a compass. No wonder the movie divided critics so passionately.
In his A- review of the film, Indiewire’s Deputy Editor and Chief Film Critic Eric Kohn raved, “Vibrantly shot by cinematographer Larkin Seiple, ‘Swiss Army Man’ is a deliriously kooky yet controlled experience…[it’s] pop art by way of lowbrow slapstick, with a premise that suggests ‘Cast Away’ meets ‘Weekend at Bernie’s.'”
The film is a Cold Iron Pictures, Tadmore, Astrakan Film SB., and Blackbird production. Producers includes Jonathan Wang, Lawrence Inglee, Miranda Bailey, Amanda Marshall, Eyal Rimmon and Lauren Mann. Executive producers are Gideon Tadmor, William Olsson and Jim Kaufman.
Alexis Garcia of WME, Peter Trinh of ICM and Yale Chasin of UTA negotiated the deal. A24 is planning a theatrical release over the summer. The deal was first reported by Variety.
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