Hulu is in advanced negotiations to acquire “Nutcrackers,” a family comedy that opened the Toronto Film Festival. Directed by David Gordon Green and starring Ben Stiller, Linda Cardellini, and others, the film is expected to secure an eight-figure deal. Hulu plans to release the movie for Christmas.
Written by Leland Douglas, “Nutcrackers” features Stiller as a city-dwelling man who relocates to rural Ohio to care for his niece and nephew following their mother’s death. He discovers that the children are talented ballet dancers and realizes that this new environment may be where he truly belongs.
Newcomers Homer, Ulysses, Atlas, and Arlo Janson, who play the children, were filmed on their family’s Ohio farm. Green, a longtime friend of the Janson family, drew inspiration from their lives for the film.
The movie received a strong reaction at its TIFF premiere and marks Stiller’s return to acting after seven years. It also represents a shift for Green from recent horror projects. UTA Independent Film Group is handling worldwide rights, with Rivulet Films financing and Rough House developing the project.
While TIFF has seen slow deal-making, “Nutcrackers” could potentially expedite the process as the festival wraps up.
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