Tesla-Sundance Still

Source: Sundance

Tesla

IFC Films has picked up US rights from Cinetic Media and Millennium Media to Sundance 2020 premiere Tesla starring Ethan Hawke.

Michael Almereyda (Marjorie Prime Experimenter, Hamlet) wrote and directed the film about the efforts of Nikola Tesla, the pioneering electrical engineer and contemporary of Thomas Edison, to create an alternative current motor.

Starring alongside Hawke are Eve Hewson, Kyle MacLachlan, Jim Gaffigan, Donnie Keshawarz, Rebecca Dayan, Josh Hamilton, and Lucy Walters.

IFC Films said it has scheduled the film for release on August 7, 2020.

Tesla was awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize in Park City, which Almereyda previously won in 2017 for Marjorie Prime.

Uri Singer of Passage Pictures (Marjorie Prime), Christa Campell and Lati Grobman of Campbell-Grobman Films (The Iceman), and Isen Robbins of Intrinsic Value Films (Blue Caprice) produced alongside Millennium Media, who also handle international sales.

IFC Films executive vice-president of acquisitions and productions Arianna Bocco brokered the deal with Cinetic Media and Millennium Media on behalf of the filmmakers.

Bocco said, “It’s always a cause for celebration for IFC Films to work with Ethan, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with the legendary Michael Almereyda and the rest of this amazing cast to bring this unique and extraordinary film to US audiences this summer.”

Singer added, “This has been a long journey. Happy to collaborate with IFC, who have worked with Ethan Hawke successfully in the past. This script was written 37 years ago and thanks to Millennium and everyone involved, we are proud to have audiences see it this summer.”

Millennium’s Jeffrey Greenstein said, “We could not have found a better home for this film and are really excited to be teaming up once again with IFC to share this unconventional story of the legend that is Nikola Tesla, portrayed by the multi-talented Ethan Hawke who brings Almereyda’s vision to life alongside a stunning ensemble cast.”