Dwayne Johnson is heading to the Sundance Film Festival. It was announced today that the upcoming family comedy Fighting with My Family has been added to the Sundance lineup as the “Secret Screening,” and Johnson himself took to Twitter to address the announcement. Johnson produced and has a small role in the film, which is based on the true story of WWE Superstar Paige, who gained an opportunity to train for the WWE following years of obsessing over wrestling with her family. This is the first Seven Bucks Productions film to land a spot at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, and indeed the film was packaged outside the studio system, owing to Seven Bucks’ belief in the strength of the material.
Curiously enough, even though this is a film about the wrestling world, it was written and directed by Stephen Merchant. Yes, that Stephen Merchant from the UK’s The Office and the shortlived HBO series Hello Ladies. Merchant previously directed numerous episodes of Extras and Hello Ladies as well as the 2010 feature Cemetery Junction, but this is his most high-profile project as a filmmaker yet.
The Sundance addition signals that MGM is bullish on the quality of Fighting with My Family, which doesn’t hit theaters until February 22nd. This could be a good way of building buzz, much in the way that Get Out’s secret screening at Sundance last year boosted that film into its February release where it flourished at the box office.
The Sundance Film Festival runs from January 24th through February 3rd.
Check out Johnson’s video below. The film stars Florence Pugh, Jack Lowden, Lena Headey, Nick Frost, and Vince Vaughn.
#SundanceFilmFestival bound, kids!
Our @SevenBucksProd independent film, “Fighting With My Family” will have it’s world premiere at Sundance. An honor for us and testament to so many people working so hard to deliver quality.
See ya there, Sundance 🦄 pic.twitter.com/7Y3IaqFU28— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) January 11, 2019
Here’s the official synopsis for Fighting with My Family:
via Collider