Documentaries about Liza Minnelli and Supercross, fan favorites with different fans, a Steven Soderbergh horror, a spy thriller with Phoebe Dynevor and Angel Studios’ latest starring Jared Harris are new on screens. It’s a quieter moment for new releases as Oscar contenders flood theaters and the fresh crop of 2025 independent films are just starting to gestate at Sundance.
For a little star quality, Zeitgeist Films debuts Bruce David Klein’s Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story about legendary showbiz icon Liza Minnelli at the IFC Center in NYC and adds Los Angeles next Friday (Laemmle Royal and Town Center), with a national rollout to follow.
IFC’s 7 pm shows with director Q&As are both sold out. They’ll be moderated by Minnelli’s longtime friend and collaborator Jim Caruso, who is featured in the doc along with Michael Feinstein, Mia Farrow, Ben Vereen, Joel Grey, the late Chita Rivera — and the star herself.
The film, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival last summer (see Deadline review), brings into focus the dazzling, complex period of Minnelli’s life starting in the 1970s, just after the tragic death of her mother Judy Garland, as she confronts a range of personal and professional challenges on the way to becoming a bona fide legend, illuminating contradictions from privilege and struggle, strength and vulnerability, unreal expectations and towering talent.
As Sundance revs up, Neon is out on circa 1,750 screens with an acquisition from Park City 2024 where Steven Soderbergh horror Presence debuted in the Midnight section. Written by David Koepp, it stars Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Eddy Maday and Callina Liang as a complicated family that moves into a suburban house and become convinced they’re not alone.
Also in wide release, Angel Studios is out with Brave The Dark on 2,230 screens. The film by Damian Harris is based on the true story of a 1980s small-town high school drama teacher in Lancaster, Pa, Stan Deen, played by BAFTA winner and Oscar and Golden Globe nominee, Jared Harris (Chernobyl, Mad Men). He is drawn into the dark past of a student he tries to help. The British director and star are brothers. Another sibling, Jamie Harris, plays a parole officer.
As Stan attempts to figure out how troubled, secretive Nate (Nicholas Hamilton) wound up living alone in his car without any family, their relationship will test his deepest convictions. But sustained by a quiet belief that no student is a lost cause, he discovers the profound impact he can have on another life. Damian Harris directed and wrote the screenplay with Dale G. Bradley, Lynn Robertson-Hay, John P. Spencer and Nathaniel Deen, who is also an executive producer. The former student became Stan Deen’s surrogate son and took his name.
Angel acquired the finished film, produced by Grant Bradley, Derek Dienner, and Dale G. Bradley with MAKE/FILMS and Inspiring Films. It premiered at the San Diego Film Festival in 2023 but lacked distribution. Angel Guild members, a unique feature of the studio, helped crowdfund the P&A.
Relative newcomer Monkey Wrench Films from Henry C. Lystad and Tom Putnam is wrangling the Josh Brolin-narrated documentary Pay Dirt: The Story Of Supercross by Paul Taublieb in partnership with Monster Energy. It’s had about a dozen early screenings with Regal in the Anaheim and San Diego markets and is continuing to add screens this weekend and beyond, including Marcus, Harkins and others. Rollout plans are still being refined but the key is Regal, which, interestingly, is allowing the distributor to expand to specific markets based on the proximity of a Supercross race. These are not full runs but several screenings a week, usually midweek, and with a long tail that will keep the doc in theaters until the end of the season in late April. Screenings here. Monster Energy is running promos and theater locations for the doc on jumbotrons at each race.
Supercross has fans outside the U.S. and the doc will end up on about 200 screens worldwide. Brolin is and has been active on social supporting the film, which premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival in October.
Moderate release: IFC Films presents Phoebe Dynevor-starring Inheritance on 627 screens. The espionage thriller shot entirely on an iPhone is directed by Neil Burger (the first Divergent, The Illusionist, Limitless). When Maya, played by Phoebe Dynevor of Bridgerton and Fair Play, learns that her estranged father Sam (Rhys Ifans) was once a spy, she finds herself at the center of an international conspiracy and becomes a target herself. Written by Burger and Olen Steinhauer.
GKids opens animated coming of age story The Colors Within on about 550 screens following an Academy run in December. The distributor has been doing Q&As with Naoko Yamada this week ahead of the opening at the Regal Union Square in NYC.
Totsuko, a high school student with the ability to see the ‘colors’ of others, forms a band. As they practice at an old church on a remote island, music brings them together, forming friendships and stirring affections. This is 94% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes (31 reviews).
Limited: French comedy Rose from Cohen Media Group opens at the Quad in NYC, the Laemmle Royal in LA and the Riviera in Santa Barbara. The directorial debut of French singer superstar Aurélie Saada, it stars New Wave actress Francoise Fabian. The Eric Rohmer regular plays a recently widowed housewife who finds love and joy at a later stage in life. Premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2021.
Event programming: Fathom Entertainment is playing Verdi’s Aida from The Met: Live in HD on Saturday (as well as Jan. 29 and Feb. 1) on 700 screens.