Like pop sensation Conner4Real, The Lonely Island is out in the world breaking records and making bank. At the Sundance Film Festival, a new movie from the comedy group, called Palm Springs, has been bought for a record sum by Hulu and Neon. The distributors paid exactly $17,500,000.69 to secure the rights to the comedy.
The Record
Yes, you read those last 69 cents right. Those final pennies make Palm Springs the biggest seller of the Sundance Film Festival of all time, beating out The Birth of a Nation by less than a dollar.
It’s a great joke. Based on how well-received the comedy was at the Sundance Film Festival, the movie is worth it, unlike The Birth of a Nation, which came and went from theaters fast due to controversy. Fox Searchlight bought Nate Parker’s historical drama for $17.5 million, which Lonely Island has now hilariously opped by 69 cents.
Lonely Island is Ecstatic
What exactly is Palm Springs? According to some critics, the plot itself is a spoiler, but in short: Nyles (Andy Samberg) connects with the main of honor and family black sheep, Sarah (Cristin Milioti), at a wedding and surrealness and hijinks ensue.
If it’s a movie from The Lonely Island, how much do we really need to know about it anyway?
In a fantastic statement, The Lonely Island said the following:
“We spent over 85 million dollars of our own money on this movie, WE ARE TAKING A BATH on this deal. We hope NEON and Hulu are happy but we definitely have a lot of explaining to do to our families.” – Party Over Here team: Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, Becky Sloviter
Hulu’s Statement
Perhaps Hulu is the best medium for The Lonely Island. For unexplainable reasons, their movies — Hot Rod and Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping — never reach mainstream success. Their sense of humor isn’t exactly mainstream, but still, most of their work reaches cult status, so streaming is probably the perfect home for Palm Springs. The movie will get a theatrical release, however, from Neon before it’s available on Hulu.
In a statement, Hulu and Neon said the following:
HULU and NEON have acquired the worldwide rights to Palm Springs, the Sundance breakout starring Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Cristin Milioti (Black Mirror, Fargo), J.K. Simmons (Counterpart, Whiplash), Meredith Hagner (Search Party), Camila Mendes (Riverdale), Peter Gallagher (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist) and Tyler Hoechlin (Superman and Lois). The deal was brokered for $17,500,000.69 by UTA Independent Film Group.
The film joins Hulu’s massive TV and film comedy offering, which includes other Andy Samberg vehicles like “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “SNL” and “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.” With Palm Springs, Hulu will continue to super-serve the millions of young, highly-engaged comedy fans on Hulu.
The more movies we see from The Lonely Island, the better. From the sound of it, they’ve done their best work yet with Palm Springs. The reviews are through the roof, despite the fact that sometimes their comedy gold isn’t for everybody. But that’s exactly what they almost always make: comedy gold. It’s remarkable they haven’t hit a slump together yet. Nothing but net for the group.
Palm Springs Synopsis
While stuck at a wedding in Palm Springs, Nyles (Andy Samberg) meets Sarah (Cristin Milioti), the maid of honor and family black sheep. After he rescues her from a disastrous toast, Sarah becomes drawn to Nyles and his offbeat nihilism.
But when their impromptu tryst is thwarted by a surreal interruption, Sarah must join Nyles in embracing the idea that nothing really matters, and they begin wreaking spirited havoc on the wedding celebration.
