Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to Sundance Film Festival hit I Want Your Sex in a seven-figure deal. The latest from New Queer Cinema pioneer Gregg Araki (Mysterious Skin, The Doom Generation, White Bird in a Blizzard), the film stars Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman. Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Johnny Knoxville, Margaret Cho, Roxane Mesquida, Charli XCX and Tony-winner Daveed Diggs also star. Magnolia is planning a major theatrical release this year.
Araki’s 12th feature, I Want Your Sex, tells the story of Elliot (Hoffman), a kind-hearted if unmotivated 20something whose fantasies quickly come true when he lands a job with renowned artist and provocateur Erika Tracy (Wilde). When Erika breaks down office boundaries and takes Elliot on as her sexual muse and subordinate, their sexually charged relationship makes him question his own desires, boundaries, and relationships with his uptight girlfriend (Charli XCX) and repressed roommate (Sui Wonders). As the stakes heighten and power dynamics shift, the film mixes satire, romantic comedy, mystery, and murder through the colorful and edgy visual language for which Araki is best known.
“I Want Your Sex is a wild romp that represents all the reasons we love going to the movies,” shared Magnolia Pictures co-CEOs Eamonn Bowles and Dori Begley in a joint statement. “As huge fans of Gregg Araki, we’re thrilled to unleash his widest theatrical release yet and Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman’s insanely great performances on the masses.”
“I am over the moon and so grateful for the incredible reception at Sundance and Magnolia’s unadulterated passion for I Want Your Sex,” said Araki. “This has been a pure labor of love from day one and everyone at Magnolia is as pumped and excited as I am to get the film out there for audiences across the country to enjoy, react to and talk about.”
Black Bear presents I Want Your Sex in association with Desperate Pictures. Directed by Gregg Araki, and written by Karley Sciortino and Araki, I Want Your Sex is produced by Araki, p.g.a., Seth Caplan, p.g.a., Teddy Schwarzman, Michael Heimler, Courtney L. Cunniff, p.g.a., and Sciortino. Co-producers are Beau J. Genot, Ezra Venetos and Tom Lee. Executive producers are Joanne Roberts Wiles, John Friedberg and Andrew Golov.
The film was produced and fully financed by Black Bear, which also handled international sales.
The deal was negotiated by Magnolia SVP of acquisitions John Von Thaden and VP of acquisitions Miranda Hill, with CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmaker.
Wilde is represented by CAA, Untitled, Narrative and JSSK.
