David Farnor | On 27, Oct 2017

“Violence is part and parcel of country life,” says Carey Mulligan in the new trailer for Mudbound.

Netflix’s latest original film, snapped up at Sundance this year, follows two families who work the same land in the Mississippi Delta but live worlds apart.

The McAllan family are newly transplanted from the quiet civility of Memphis and unprepared for the harsh demands of farming. Despite the grandiose dreams of Henry (Jason Clarke), his wife, Laura (Carey Mulligan), struggles to keep the faith in her husband’s losing venture. Meanwhile, Hap and Florence Jackson (Rob Morgan, Mary J. Blige) — sharecroppers who have worked the land for generations — struggle bravely to build a small dream of their own despite the rigidly enforced social barriers they face.

The war upends both families’ plans as their returning loved ones, Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund) and Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell), forge a fast but uneasy friendship that challenges the brutal realities of the Jim Crow South in which they live. Directed by Dee Rees, the result is a timeless and timely film about prejudice, hope, history and friendship.

“Rees crafts a rallying cry for empathy, with the film’s perspective shifting from character to character subtly throughout – voiceovers given to people whose voices are taken away,” we wrote in our four-star review of the movie, which premiered at the London Film Festival earlier this month. “This is weighty, marvellous, important filmmaking that makes its period tale feel powerfully relevant to today.”

Mudbound will be released on Netflix and have a limited theatrical release on Friday 17th November. Here’s the new trailer:

 

Trailer: Carey Mulligan and Jason Clarke star in Netflix’s Mudbound

6th September 2017

Netflix’s Mudbound, starring Carey Mulligan and Jason Clarke, will be released both online and in cinemas this November.

Set against the backdrop of the Mississippi Delta during the Jim Crow era after World War II, Mudbound is both a timeless and timely film following two families – one black, one white – bound together by the hardships of farm life on the Mississippi Delta.

From director/co-writer Dee Rees (Pariah), the film premiered to great acclaim at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, going on to be snapped up by Netflix for $12.5 million – the biggest deal at the festival this year.

Mudbound follows the McAllan family, newly transplanted from the quiet civility of Memphis and unprepared for the harsh demands of farming. Despite the grandiose dreams of Henry (Jason Clarke), his wife Laura (Carey Mulligan) struggles to keep the faith in her husband’s losing venture. Meanwhile, Hap and Florence Jackson (Rob Morgan, Mary J. Blige) — sharecroppers who have worked the land for generations — struggle bravely to build a small dream of their own despite the rigidly enforced social barriers they face.

The war upends both families’ plans as their returning loved ones, Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund) and Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell), forge a fast but uneasy friendship that challenges the brutal realities of the Jim Crow South in which they live.

The movie will premiere at the London Film Festival this October, before going to be released on Netflix and in select cinemas on Friday 17th November. Here’s the first trailer:

 

Netflix seals biggest deal of Sundance 2017 with Mudbound

30th January 2017

Netflix has sealed the biggest deal of Sundance 2017 with the acquisition of Mudbound.

The indie film festival has become a favourite market for streaming services, with Amazon acquiring Manchester by the Sea last year, making it likely to become the first VOD provider to win an Oscar next month.

This year, Amazon returned to Utah in full force, notably inking a $12 million agreement for the rights to The Big Sick. Netflix, though, has gone one better. The streaming giant paid a whopping $12.5 million for the rights to Mudbound, starring Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jonathan Banks and Mary J. Blige.

The movie, which is helmed by Dee Rees – who premiered Pariah at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival – is set in the segregated, post-WWII South, where two families fight against the social hierarchy and the unrelenting landscape. Mulligan and Jason Clarke play the McAllans, a couple who have moved from Memphis to Mississippi with the dream of becoming farmers, while Blige and Rob Morgan play Hap and Florence Jackson, whose families have worked the land for generations, where every day is a losing venture. Hedlund and Jason Mitchell play two war veterans returning home from the conflict.

Adapted by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees from the novel by Hillary Jordan, the drama premiered to a standing ovation on the first weekend of Sundance, although the project’s budget of over $10 million and unflinching violence meant that it took some time for the movie to find a buyer. Netflix’s $12.5 million has given the online firm the US rights for a theatrical and digital release, no doubt with an eye already on next year’s Oscars race. It also gives Netflix the subscription streaming rights to the movie in the UK, Italy, Canada, South Africa, Iceland, Asia and other territories.

It’s the latest in a long string of deals at Sundance for both Netflix and Amazon. To keep up-to-date with their acquisitions, click here.

 

Photo: Sundance

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