Following its rapturous Sundance premiere, Black Bear acquired North American rights to “Wicker” in a competitive situation and is committing to a meaningful theatrical release of the film this year. Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer (“Save Yourselves!,” Sundance 2020) directed from a script they adapted based on the short story “The Wicker Husband” by Ursula Wills. The film earned rave reviews and a double standing ovation at its festival bow, with an ensemble led by Academy Award-winner Olivia Colman, Golden Globe winner Alexander Skarsgård, Emmy Award-winners Peter Dinklage and Elizabeth Debicki, Marli Siu, and BAFTA Award nominee Nabhaan Rizwan.

“Wicker” is an audacious comedic fable about sex, marriage, and social convention, centering on a wholly original love story. When the ostracized Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) commissions a wicker husband from the local Basketmaker (Peter Dinklage), her unexpected romance with the creation (Alexander Skarsgård) sparks jealousy and threatens the village’s social order.

“Wicker” was brought to life through meticulous craft, with Academy Award-winning cinematographer Lol Crawley (“The Brutalist”), Art Director’s Guild award winning production designer Renátó Cseh (“Poor Things”), and costume designers András Dániel Tóth and Attila Godena-Juhász creating an anachronistic folk world rich in character detail, while composer Anna Meredith unified the tone with a bold, recorder-driven score. The film had Alexander Skarsgård wearing a fully practical Wicker Husband suit by Joe Dunckley and Weta Workshop (“Avatar,” “The Lord of the Rings”).

Katie Anderson, Executive Vice President of US Acquisitions for Black Bear, said, “We were immediately struck by the sheer originality of “Wicker”. From its storytelling to the best-in-class performances led by Olivia, this is a film that refuses to be ignored. It’s provocative, darkly funny, and unexpectedly tender in all the right ways. We’re thrilled to bring this bold vision to audiences across North America.”

“We are thrilled to be sharing the incredible work of Olivia, Alexander, Peter, Elizabeth and the whole cast and crew with a wider audience, and feel so fortunate to be partnering with a company who really gets it,” said Wilson and Fischer. “The team at Black Bear have led our conversations with a true passion for the film and a fearlessness that we all need from distributors in this moment.”

The film was financed by Tango and Topic Studios with Tim Headington, Lia Buman, Ryan Heller and Michael Bloom producing alongside South of The River’s Colman, Ed Sinclair, and Tom Carver, Yoki, Inc’s David Michôd and Brad Zimmerman, and Justin Lothrop and Brent Stiefel for Votiv who originated and financed development, as well as Andrea Cornwell and Oliver Kassman. Executive producers include Ian Stratford, Jasmine Daghighian, Jennifer Westin, Neil Shah, Max Silva, and Lina Stroud.

CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group arranged the film’s financing and represented the film’s domestic rights. Black Bear is handling international sales and will be releasing the film in the UK.

About Black Bear
Black Bear is one of the world’s leading independent studios, producing, financing, and distributing film and television content around the world. Founded in 2011, with offices in Santa Monica and London, the studio is behind a diversified slate that blends critically acclaimed, filmmaker-driven fare with broadly commercial action and genre titles. The company directly distributes films in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, and Canada, where subsidiary Elevation Pictures is the territory’s top independent distributor. Black Bear’s original films include Academy Award nominees “Train Dreams,” “The Imitation Game,” “Sing Sing,” “Nyad,” and “Mudbound,” as well as Guy Ritchie’s “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” Craig Gillespie’s “Dumb Money,” J Blakeson’s “I Care a Lot,” and David Ayer’s “A Working Man.” Via its international sales business, Black Bear has sold films including Osgood Perkins’ “Longlegs” and “The Monkey,” and upcoming films including Marc Forster’s “Anxious People,” starring Angelina Jolie, Aimee Lou Wood, and Jason Segel. The company’s distribution operations in the U.K. and Canada have been behind Academy Award and BAFTA winners including Edward Berger’s “Conclave,” Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” and Sean Baker’s “Anora.”

Upcoming Black Bear films being distributed in the U.S. by the studio include Daniel Roher’s “Tuner,” starring Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman, Guy Ritchie’s “In the Grey,” starring Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Eiza Gonzalez “Spa Weekend,” from “Bad Moms” directors Jon Lucas & Scott Moore, starring Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Michelle Buteau, and Anna Faris and Guy Ritchie’s “Wife & Dog,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Rosamund Pike, and Anthony Hopkins. Black Bear also has a bespoke management arm, through which it represents singular creative talent, including directors, writers, and actors.
For more information: www.blackbearpictures.com, Instagram: @blackbearpics, Twitter: @blackbearpics