EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment and Roadside Attractions have snapped up U.S. rights to the dramatic thriller Alice, which will make its world premiere next month at the Sundance Film Festival. Written and directed by Krystin Ver Linden, follwoing its world premiere at the festival, the film will released theatrically on Mar. 18, 2022.
The film stars Keke Palmer as Alice, an enslaved person yearning for freedom on a rural Georgia plantation under its brutal and disturbed owner Paul (Jonny Lee Miller). After a violent clash with Paul, she flees through the neighboring woods and stumbles onto the unfamiliar sight of a highway, soon discovering the year is actually 1973. Rescued on the roadside by a disillusioned political activist named Frank (Common), Alice quickly comprehends the lies that have kept her in bondage and the promise of Black liberation. Inspired by true accounts, Alice is a modern empowerment fable tracing Alice’s journey through the post-Civil Rights Era American South.
The film also stars Gaius Charles, Alicia Witt, Craig Stark and Shiquita James. The music was produced and songs curated by Common, Karrien Riggins, and Patrick Warren. Alice was financed and produced by Peter Lawson through his Steel Springs Pictures banner. Palmer and Common will executive produce alongside Jose Agustin Valdes and Vickie de Varona Hsieh.
The deal was negotiated by Jarowey and Senior Vice President of Acquisitions Tony Piantedosi on behalf of Vertical Entertainment, by Cohen and Senior Director of Acquisitions Angel An on behalf of Roadside Attractions, and by CAA Media Finance and Verve Ventures on behalf of the filmmakers