TIFF
As the Toronto market starts to heat up in the festival’s final days, Fox Searchlight is closing a deal to buy the North American distribution rights to A UNITED KINGDOM, director Amma Asante’s romantic drama starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. Pathe International produced the film.
Based on a true story, the film centers around the political blowback that follows Seretse Khama, heir to the throne of Botswana, and his marriage to a London office worker in 1948 and the prejudice the mixed-race couple encounters over a union that challenged the system of apartheid.
This is the second major acquisition for Searchlight, which also nabbed the critically praised biopic Jackie, which sees Natalie Portman as the iconic First Lady in a performance that is already generating tons of Oscar buzz. It’s, in part, a rebound for the studio, which has been navigating the backlash their record-breaking Sundance acquisition, Birth of a Nation, has been facing in the wake of controversy surround its writer, director, and star, Nate Parker.
Watch the official trailer for A United Kingdom here.
—TO SEE ALL THE PROJECT DETAILS CLICK HERE—
Josh Lyons | Managing Editor
This news was first reported by Variety.
