Festival Predictions

2017 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Craig Johnson’s Wilson

Published on November 30, 2016

Now pegged with a March 24th date via Fox Searchlight, despite it not being an acquisitions title, Craig Johnson’s Wilson could still land in Park City and this has a lot to do with the source material and the legacy of breakout Sundance hit The Skeleton Twins (Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award). This stars Judy Greer, Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern and Cheryl Hines.

Gist: Harrelson stars as Wilson, a lonely, neurotic and hilariously honest middle-aged misanthrope who reunites with his estranged wife (Laura Dern) and gets a shot at happiness when he learns he has a teenage daughter (Isabella Amara) he has never met. In his uniquely outrageous and slightly twisted way, he sets out to connect with her.

Production Co./Producers: Ad Hominem Enterprises’ Jim Burke, Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne (Downsizing), Jared Goldman (Adult Beginners), and Mary Jane Skalski (The Cobbler).

Prediction: Premieres category.

U.S. Distributor: Fox Searchlight.

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Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).