EXCLUSIVE: Blue Harbor Entertainment and Variance Films have picked up U.S. rights to Sundance comedy The Musical, starring Will Brill, Rob Lowe and Gillian Jacobs. A nationwide theatrical release has bee set for September 18. Unapologetic Projects Partners is teaming with Blue Harbor and Variance on the release, which reps the feature directorial debut of actress-turned-filmmaker Giselle Bonilla.
The pic follows Doug Leibowitz (Stereophonic Tony winner Brill), a disgruntled playwright-turned-middle school theater teacher longing for New York. When his ex-girlfriend (Jacobs from The Bear and Community) begins dating his nemesis, the school’s principal, Brady (Lowe from 9-1-1: Lone Star and Parks and Recreation), Doug’s ambitions morph into a diabolical scheme. To ruin Brady’s reputation and jeopardize his coveted Blue Ribbon award, Doug plots revenge: secretly staging the most inappropriate play imaginable with his middle school students.
The Musical made its world premiere in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at Sundance back in January. Bonilla is an alum of the Sundance Institute as an Ignite x Adobe Fellow as well as a Latino Film Institute x Netflix Inclusion and Telluride FilmLAB Fellow. Bonilla and Heller, both alums of the American Film Institute, first collaborated on a short film of the same name that won the Audience Award at the American Cinematheque’s 2024 Proof Film Festival and received Special Mention from the jury.
“For me, there is no greater rush than watching a comedy in a theater with an audience,” Bonilla said. “I am forever grateful to these partners for providing The Musical with that opportunity.”
The Musical is produced by Lowe, Greg Lauritano, Alexander Heller, Findlay Brown and Jordan Backhus. EPs are Gillian Bohrer, Jonathan Levine, Chris Quintos Cathcart, Tyler Boehm, Bonilla, David Duque-Estrada, Sean Calvano, Vince Jolivette, Jiarui Guo, Dan Reardon, Kyle Fox, Luke Daniels and Alan Pao.
Led by Amanda Sherwin, Mike Messina and Seth Needle, Blue Harbor Entertainment recently released the 2025 Sundance U.S. directing award-winner Ricky, starring Stephan James, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Titus Welliver; the Australian box office hit Kangaroo Island starring Rebecca Breeds; An Autumn Summer, starring Lukita Maxwell and Mark McKenna; and adventure/action epic Storm Rider: Legend of Hammerhead. Previous notable releases include indie sensation A Nice Indian Boy, starring Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff; the award-winning untold story of Dr. Audrey Evans, Audrey’s Children, starring Natalie Dormer; and Lilly, the powerful story of equal-pay activist Lilly Ledbetter, starring Patricia Clarkson. Blue Harbor is set to release sci-fi thriller Orion this Fall.
The deal was brokered by WME Independent on behalf of the filmmakers.
Co-founded by Chris Quintos Cathcart and Tyler Boehm, Unapologetic Projects works with underrepresented creators to tell authentic stories. As EPs, they had the 2024 theatrical release with Dìdi via Focus Features after premiering in competition at 2024 Sundance and winning both the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award and the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast. Other EP’d movies include this summer’s Stop! That! Train! and last year’s Last Days and All That We Love.
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Variance handled the theatrical releases of AMC concert event movies Taylor Swift: Eras Tour, Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce, Taylor Swift: The Official Release of a Showgirl and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Oscar winner Drive My Car and Gints Zilbalodis’ Flow (for Sideshow/Janus Films), Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance and Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love (for Mubi), Bi Gan’s Resurrection (for Janus Films) and Roshan Sethi’s A Nice Indian Boy (for Blue Harbor Entertainment).