Here’s an unusual update.
Andrew Patterson’s “Rivals of the Amziah King” came out of SXSW with rave reviews (97% on Rotten Tomatoes) earlier this year. Normally, that would mean a bidding war, or at the very least, some traction in the indie space. Five months later? Nothing.
Financier Black Bear, which recently launched its own U.S. distribution arm, has decided to just release the film themselves. The reason: “no immediate buyers” and the “wonky economics of the acquisition business nowadays.”
Translation — SXSW hype isn’t enough to get streamers or indie distributors to write a big check anymore.
There’s still no release date, and no word on whether Black Bear will push the film into awards season. To be honest, if ‘Amziah King’ wanted a real shot, it probably needed to show up at the fall festivals. It didn’t. And buyers have been burned too many times by Austin buzz that fizzles out by the time it hits theaters.
The film, shot in 2023, stars Matthew McConaughey, Kurt Russell, Owen Teague, Cole Sprouse, and newcomer Angelina LookingGlass. Marketed as a crime thriller, it’s set in Oklahoma and centers on a man who runs the town’s top honey-making operation — until rival beekeepers threaten to bring it all down.
Patterson broke out with “The Vast of Night” (2019), a micro-budget sci-fi that Amazon picked up and turned into an acclaimed festival darling. Some reports had the total production cost at just under $500,000.