Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin Sundance Comedy-Drama ‘A Real Pain’ Sells to Searchlight for $10 Million
variety.comRebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” one of the buzziest movies to premiere so far at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, has sold to Searchlight in a huge $10 million deal.
Given the warm reception in Park City, the film sparked a bidding war among several distributions to land global rights. Eisenberg directed “A Real Pain” in addition to starring alongside Kieran Culkin.
They play cousins whose tour through Poland in honor of their grandmother sparks some serious family rivalry. Their co-stars include Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy and Daniel Oreskes. “A Real Pain” is one of two movies that Eisenberg is headlining at this year’s festival — the other is Bleecker Street’s wacky comedy “Sasquatch Sunset.” The actor says “A Real Pain” is an acutely personal story.
In the film, the cousins end up joining a Holocaust tour, and at one point in the film, they visit a nondescript house to seek some solace. “The house at the end is my family’s house,” Eisenberg told the audience during the premiere. “They were taken out of there in 1939.” Searchlight Pictures plans to release “A Real Pain” theatrically this year. “We are blown away by Jesse’s vision and craft in telling this hilarious and profound film,” said Searchlight Presidents Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum. “He tells a deeply personal story and makes it universal.
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