Searchlight Pictures acquires Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan starrer ‘Fresh’ ahead of Sundance debut

Searchlight Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to LegendaryEntertainment’s film Fresh, directed by Mimi Cave and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People) and Sebastian Stan (Captain America franchise, I, Tonya), in advance of its World Premiere at the virtual Sundance Film Festival next week. 

The thriller is written by Lauryn Kahn, and produced by Adam McKay and Kevin Messick under their Hyperobject Industries banner, with Maeve Cullinane as co-producer. Fresh, which marks Cave’s feature debut, will stream exclusively on Disney’s DTC platforms as a Hulu Original in the U.S. on March 4, 2022 and internationally on Disney+ as a Star Original later in the spring.

Fresh follows Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones), who meets the alluring Steve (Sebastian Stan) at a grocery store and – given her frustration with dating apps – takes a chance and gives him her number. After their first date, Noa is smitten and accepts Steve’s invitation to a romantic weekend getaway.  Only to find that her new paramour has been hiding some unusual appetites.

“Fresh upends all romance tropes and boldly comments on the trepidation of the current dating experience,”said Searchlight Presidents Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum. “Mimi Cave has brilliantly brought Lauryn Kahn’s razor sharp script to the screen, and will give audiences something they are truly hungry for.” 

“Fresh is a wildly allegorical story, yet the film carries strings of truth throughout that I hope resonate for different audiences,” added director Mimi Cave.  “I’m so pleased to be working with the Searchlight and Hulu teams to bring our film to the world and can’t wait for people to see the brilliant performances Daisy and Sebastian give.”

Jojo T. Gibbs(Twenties), Charlotte Le Bon (Anthropoid, The Hundred-Foot Journey), Andrea Bang (Luce), and Dayo Okeniyi(Runner Runner, The Spectacular Now) round out the cast. The crafts team includes cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski (Hereditary, Midsommar), editor Martin Pensa (Wild, Dallas Buyers Club), production designer Jennifer Morden (Riot Girls), and composer Alex Somers (Honey Boy, Captain Fantastic).

Ben Wilkinson, VP Business Affairs negotiated the deal for Searchlight Pictures with Michael Ross for Legendary Entertainment.

Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute

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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), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) 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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