Jake Johnson’s Directorial Feature Debut ‘Self Reliance’ Headed to Hulu in September

In a deal with MRC and Paramount Global Content Distribution, Hulu has acquired the U.S. rights to Jake Johnson’s feature directorial debut, Self Reliance, which will premiere as a Hulu Original on September 8. 

The high concept comedic thriller is also written by and starring Johnson (New Girl, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Minx), and features an all-star cast including Academy Award nominee Anna Kendrick, Natalie Morales, Andy Samberg, GaTa, Emily Hampshire, Mary Holland, Boban Marjanović, with Emmy Award winners Christopher Lloyd and Wayne Brady. The fiercely competitive deal was struck on the heels of the world premiere of the MRC-financed film at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival in March, which was a festival favorite, screening to a standing-room-only audience.

Self Reliance tells the story of a man who is offered a million dollars to play a game in which hunters try to kill him, he thinks he has found the perfect loophole: they can only attack when he’s alone. His only problem is that none of his friends or family believe the game is real.

In his review for AwardsWatch of the film, Kevin L. Lee said “Despite the clunky storytelling, plenty of lines in the script are hilarious and delivered with a great sense of timing,” continuing, “for a movie whose premise is so wacky and dangerous like this one, Self Reliance still feels… safe.”

Self Reliance is produced by Lonely Island and Walcott Productions, while Ali Bell, Joe Hardesty and Jake Johnson serve as producers and executive producers include Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone. 

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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