Award-winning studio NEON announced today that it has picked up the U.S. rights to “Hell of a Summer” from Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things,” “It, Ghostbusters: Afterlife)” and Billy Bryk (“Friendship,” “When You Finish Saving the World”) from 30WEST. The horror-comedy, directed and written by Wolfhard and Bryk in their feature debut, also stars the duo alongside Fred Hechinger (“Thelma,” “Gladiator 2”). “Hell of a Summer” had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival where Deadline remarked “‘With a cast that shines and two budding directors showcasing immense promise, this is one flick that’s bound to leave the audience with a smile on their face and a knife in their back.”

“Hell of a Summer” follows 24-year-old camp counselor Jason Hochberg (Hechinger), who arrives at Camp Pineway thinking his biggest problem is that he feels out of touch with his teenage co-workers. What he doesn’t know is that a masked killer is lurking on the campgrounds, brutally picking counselors off one by one.

30WEST fully financed and executive produced the film. Producers are Fred Hechinger, Aggregate Films’ Michael Costigan and Jason Bateman, Drew Brennan, and Parts & Labor’s Jay Van Hoy. The deal was negotiated by Jason Wald on behalf of NEON with 30WEST and CAA Media Finance.

Bryk is represented by Daniel Abrams at OAZ and Paul Nelson and Jeremy Berney at Mosaic, Annick Muller at Wolf-Kasteler, and Steve Warren and Jennifer Gray at Hansen Jacobson. Wolfhard is represented by CAA, Ryan Thomson at Venture Entertainment Partners, Jill Fritzo Public Relations, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein. Hechinger is represented by WME, Brillstein, Birch Public Relations, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein.

NEON has cemented itself as a leader in the genre film space, most recently with breakout title “Longlegs” starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage, NEON’s highest grossing film at the box office, surpassing Bong Joon-ho’s 2019 hit thriller “Parasite”. Additional recent and upcoming genre titles include: “Cuckoo” from Tilman Singer, starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens, which released in theaters on August 9 after a successful festival run at Berlin and SXSW earlier this year; and “Immaculate” starring Sydney Sweeney, which garnered over $15M at the box office.

At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, NEON will world premiere Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End,” a golden-age musical starring Academy Award-winner Tilda Swinton, which NEON also produced; and will also have the Canadian premiere of Sean Baker’s “Anora,” which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes after its world premiere earlier this year.

30WEST’s recent projects include “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell for Sony; “Power Ballad,” the latest film from John Carney, with Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd, which sold to Lionsgate; and Marc Webb’s forthcoming “Day Drinker.”

About NEON
In only six years, NEON has garnered 32 Academy Award nominations (7 this year), 6 wins, including Best Picture, and has grossed over $250M at the box office. The company continues to push boundaries and take creative risks on bold cinema such as Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” which made history winning four Academy Awards, becoming the first non-English-language film to claim Best Picture. The film also unanimously won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and grossed over $54M at the domestic box office.

The current NEON slate includes: Academy Award-nominee for Best Animated Feature “Robot Dreams” from Pablo Berger, and Osgood Perkins’ “Longlegs” with Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe. Upcoming releases include: “Cuckoo” from writer/director Tilman Singer and starring Hunter Schafer which premiered in the Berlinale Special section and released on August 9; and “Anora” from filmmaker Sean Baker starring Mikey Madison which won this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes and releases on October 18.

As a burgeoning leader in the production space, NEON’s recent and upcoming in-house productions include: Tilman Singer’s “Cuckoo” starring Hunter Schafer, which world premiered in the Berlinale Special section; David Robert Mitchell’s “They Follow” starring Maika Monroe; Brandon Cronenberg’s “Infinity Pool”; Bishal Dutta’s “It Lives Inside”; and Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End,” a golden-age musical starring Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton.

NEON launched its international sales outfit ahead of the Venice Film Festival in 2023, handling titles including: Kogonada’s “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell; Ben Shirinian’s “The Housewife” starring Naomi Watts, Tye Sheridan, Michael Imperioli, and Norman Reedus; and Steven Soderbergh’s”Presence,” which made its world premiere in Sundance, where NEON picked up the worldwide rights.

NEON has amassed a library of over 80 films, with noteworthy releases including: the Oscar-nominated documentaries “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” and “Fire of Love”; 2022’s highest grossing documentary, “Moonage Daydream”; and three-time Academy Award nominee Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness”. It also includes “Flee,” which made history becoming the first film to score an impressive trifecta of Oscar nominations; “The Worst Person in The World,” which was nominated for Original Screenplay and International Feature Film; “Spencer,” which earned Kristen Stewart an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress; the record-breaking “Honeyland,” which is the first non-fiction feature to land Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary and Best International Feature Film in the same year; Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner, “Titane”; and Craig Gillespie’s “I, Tonya,” which garnered multiple Academy Award nominations, one win for Allison Janney and amassed over $30M in domestic box office.

About 30WEST
30WEST has helped assemble and finance many of the last half-decade’s most memorable film and television projects including: Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness,” nominated for three 2023 Academy Awards including Best Picture, and winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival; “The Mauritanian,” starring Jodie Foster, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tahar Rahim; “Late Night,” starring Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson; “I, Tonya” starring Margot Robbie; “The Contractor” starring Chris Pine; and the unscripted TV sensation, “Tiger King”.