Amazon has closed a $13 million deal for “Late Night,” a buzzy comedy about diversity in a late night talk show writers room that is written by, produced by, and stars Mindy Kaling. It is the first major sale out of the Sundance Film Festival.
“Late Night” co-stars Emma Thompson as a prickly comic who grudgingly takes an Indian-American writer (Kaling) under her wing after she is shamed into hiring more women and minorities. In a cover story for Variety, Kaling said that she saw “Late Night” as a chance to retell a familiar story of someone trying to break into the entertainment business from a fresh perspective.
“So much of this movie is about being a fan and being on the outside of the entertainment business,” Kaling told Variety. “That story has been told many, many, many times by 52-year-old white men, and I love all those movies. And as a comedy nerd I’ve always identified with them because it was the closest thing that I could identify with. There was no one like me making those kind of films.”
The film also hits as studios are being pressured to back more projects from women and people of color, making it particularly timely. The price represents the film’s ability to tap the zeitgeist. It is one of the largest pacts in Sundance history, falling short of the $17.5 million pact that Fox Searchlight made for “The Birth of a Nation,” but outpacing the $12.5 million that Netflix paid for “Mudbound” or the $12 million that Amazon paid for “The Big Sick.” Most of those deals were for global rights, which makes the “Late Night” sale, which is only for the U.S., a very rich one.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety