Sumerian Pictures has clinched U.S. rights for Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition and Audience Award winner Josephine in a competitive seven-figure deal, committing to a major theatrical release and awards campaign.
Starring Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Mason Reeves, Philip Ettinger, Syra McCarthy, the drama was one of the buzziest titles to debut at Park City this year and speculation has been rife over who would take domestic rights.
Following its award-winning Sundance world premiere, the film will also play in the main competition at the Berlin Film Festival, with its first public screening February 20.
The Berlinale runs through February 22.
Written, produced, and directed by Beth de Araújo, the film follows the psychological fallout after 8-year-old Josephine (Reeves) witnesses a crime in Golden Gate Park. As she acts out, her parents (Tatum and Chan) struggle with helping their daughter cope, while facing their own fears around the topic and how to address it with their child.
The multimillion-dollar deal took Sumerian out of its normal hitting zone to secure the film and beat back multiple rivals, and is seen as a good sign for the indie space, heralding the arrival of another ambitious U.S. buyer.
“I’m pleased to see that Sumerian has emerged as a new distribution company, made up of people who love films and are committed to inviting audiences into the theaters,” said Araújo.
The double Sundance win has already fired up 2026-27 awards season watchers, with observations that Best Picture nominee Minari and Best Picture winner CODA both achieved the same feat in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
This combined with a raft of positive reviews for Araújo’s handling of the tough subject, has landed it a slot in early awards prediction lists.
Sumerian founder Ash Avildsen and Sumerian Pictures president, Rob Williams called the film “an enthralling, deeply emotional, and powerful film that deserves all the acclaim and accolades it has already received from Sundance. We are so thrilled to be working with Beth de Araújo and the whole team to bring this to audiences with Sumerian Pictures.”
Williams negotiated the acquisition with WME Independent and CAA Media Finance.
Josephine joins a slate of upcoming theatrical releases from Sumerian Pictures that includes the romantic comedy Mile End Kicks, directed by Chandler Levack (in theaters April 17); The Wolf, the Fox and the Leopard, directed by David Verbeek; Broken Voices directed by Ondřej Provazník; and Horsegirls, directed by Lauren Meyering.
Williams was brought on late last year to spearhead the company’s distribution push. The company’s primary business has been in the music space, publishing genres like rock and metal. It also has comics and games interests. Avildsen, who previously directed the feature American Satan, is the son of Oscar-winning filmmaker John G. Avildsen of Rocky and The Karate Kid fame.
Josephine is produced by David Kaplan, Josh Peters, de Araújo, Marina Stabile, Tatum, Chan, Mark H. Rapaport, and Crystine Zhang.
Kinematics, Spark Features and Yintai financed the film alongside de Araújo’s company Vibrato in association with Free Association.
Josephine is de Araújo’s second feature after her 2022 debut Soft & Quiet, which premiered at SXSW and was acquired by Blumhouse and released by Momentum Pictures.
Goodfellas is handling international sales on Josephine.