Hindsight is 2026…Two Months Later: Which Sundance U.S. Dramatic Titles Have Found Homes?

It has now been a full two months since Sundance Film Festival closed out its final run in Park City, and so far only four titles from the U.S. Dramatic Competition have secured distribution deals. While Carousel, The Friend’s House Is Here, The Musical, Run Amok, Take Me Home and Union County are still looking for homes, three distributors brought out their chequebooks for 2026 calendar release grabs. Comparatively, the slow sales match the previous years — there has been a bit of a decline in sales since post-pandemic 2022 and as we previously pointed out, films are now reaching the market with different game plans from traditional buys to DIY strategies. We predict that we might still be getting signed deals well into the rest of 2026. Here is our recap, Hindsight is 2026 the first of three.

Easily the most critically acclaimed film coming out of Sundance and also playing in the main competition of Berlinale Beth de Araújo’s Josephine was snapped up by a fairly new upstart run by Ash Avildsen in Sumerian Pictures. Known primarily as a record label but now shifting into the movie space they picked up the Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan and Mason Reeves starring film for seven figures. The film seems set to perform well having already received exceptional reviews and is due for a good cinematic and awards run. The film won both the Grand Jury Prize and audience award out of Sundance, the former of which we predicted, and seems the most sure bet for success outside of Sundance with further international fests requesting the title. Could a TIFF showcase and fall drop by in the cards?

Michael Barker and Tom Bernard’s Sony Pictures Classics first acquisition was one of the more buzzy titles, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! from Catch the Fair One director Josef Kubota Wladyka. The film is based on the director’s mother and follows Rinko Kikuchi as a woman leaving the Japanese ballroom scene after a tragedy only to return and form an obsession with the new instructor. The film has a crowd pleasing element and Oscar nominee Kikuchi behind it which may prove the key ingredients for a successful cinematic run and longer life. A Telluride/Toronto strategy could be in the cards with a proper targeting at the Gotham and Indie Spirit awards.

Their second pick up in just as many days, SPC acquired the rights for Stephanie Ahn’s feature directorial debut Bedford Park. Starring Moon Choi as Audrey, a Korean-American woman returning to Brooklyn and forming an unlikely bond with the man who was involved in a car accident affecting her mother. The film has received a pretty positive reception out of the festival and won the U.S Dramatic special jury award for debut feature which could provide some positive momentum amongst cinephiles.

And finally, in the most recent pick up, James Shani’s Rich Spirit landed Ramzi Bashour’s debut feature Hot Water. They’ll weigh their options for an eventual release this year, but next up is MoMA’s First Look event in April. Lubna Azabal and Daniel Zolghadri tag-teamed for a tale that follows a Lebanese mother and her American son on an odyssey across the United States.