Saban Films moves ‘Happily’ along with Joel McHale and Kerry Bishé

The Jack Black-produced dark comedy was set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival

Saban Films announced today that they have acquired US, Canada, UK and Ireland rights to BenDavid Grabinski’s Happily, which was set to make its World Premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival before the pandemic shutdown.

The film stars Emmy Award nominee Joel McHale (“Community,” Deliver Us from Evil), Kerry Bishé (Red State, “Halt and Catch Fire,” Argo), and Emmy Award nominee Stephen Root (“Barry,” “King of the Hill”).

The ensemble’s supporting cast includes Natalie Morales (“Parks and Recreation”), Paul Scheer (“The League”), Natalie Zea (“Justified”), Charlyne Yi (“Knocked Up”), Breckin Meyer (“Designated Survivor”), Shannon Woodward (“Westworld”), Jon Daly (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Kirby Howell-Baptiste (“Barry”), and Al Madrigal (“I’m Dying Up Here”).

This riveting dark comedy was financed by Chuckie Duff’s Common Wall Media and produced by Electric Dynamite’s Jack Black and Spencer Berman, Indy Entertainment’s Nancy Leopardi and Ross Kohn and Executive produced by Chuckie Duff, as well as filmmakers Dave Green and Kyle Newman. 

Happily follows Tom (McHale) and Janet (Bishé) who have been happily married for years. But a visit from a mysterious stranger (Root) leads to a dead body, a lot of questions, and a tense couples’ trip with friends who may not actually be friends at all. 

Saban Films’ Bill Bromiley said, “Happily is a twisted dark comedy told through fresh voices with a fantastic ensemble cast.  BenDavid truly keeps you guessing throughout the film and we can’t wait to bring it to our audiences.”

Jonathan Saba negotiated the deal for Saban Films along with Jay Cohen from The Gersh Agency on behalf of the filmmakers. 

Saban Films recently announced that it has entered the UK market via a partnership with Altitude Media Group.  The company continues to grow its presence in the industry, remaining active in the acquisition, production and distribution space.  Successes have run the gamut from critically acclaimed theatrical films such as The Homesman starring Hilary Swank, to two of the biggest Fathom events with horror icon and heavy metal mastermind Rob Zombie’s 3 From Hell last year and Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, the sequel to the 2001 comedy Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back which the company partnered on after coming onboard at script stage.

Its upcoming slate includes: Dennis Dugan’s Love, Weddings & Other Disasters starring Diane Keaton, Jeremy Irons, Maggie Grace, Jesse McCartney, Chandra West, Diego Boneta, Andrew Bachelor, and Veronica Ferres; Seth Savoy’s directorial debut Echo Boomers starring Patrick Schwarzenegger, Alex Pettyfer, Oliver Cooper, Lesley Ann Warren and Michael Shannon; Jamie Babbit’s The Stand In with Drew Barrymore in a dual lead role alongside Michael Zegen, T.J. Miller, and Holland Taylor; Josh Duhamel’s directorial debut Buddy Games; the Alicia Silverstone wedding comedy Sister of the Groom; Nicol Paone’s Friendsgiving with Malin Akerman, Christine Taylor, Jane Seymour, Kat Dennings and Chelsea Peretti; John Suits’ Breach starring Bruce Willis, Cody Kearsley and Callan Mulvey; and Twist starring Michael Caine, Lena Headey and Rita Ora.

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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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