A new report indicates that indie darling studio, A24, could be aiming for a big shift.
Despite nearly 50 Oscar nominations and over a dozen wins, A24 wants to get bigger. Typically, the studio is known for distributing smaller indie films such as The Florida Project, Moonlight, and Eighth Grade.
Getting big
The Wrap is reporting that A24 is looking into acquiring “action and big IP projects” going forward to help “expand into more commercial films.”
Whilst A24 doesn't have a specific genre, they have helped launch the careers of the Safdie brothers, Bo Burnham, Ari Aster, Alex Garland, and Greta Gerwig.
That was their brand — making the films that studios such as Disney, Universal, Warner Bros, and others don't anymore. Or at the very least, don't push forward with marketing.
Last year was perhaps A24's most mainstream year. Their film Everything Everywhere All at Once became the studio's highest-grossing film ever, topping Hereditary ($81 million) with its $111 million haul. The film appealed to the masses, a rarity for the studio, and received 11 Oscar nominations, winning seven. This included Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis winning their first Oscars and a Best Picture win. It was the feel-good story of the year.
And it's not that A24 hasn't been “mainstream” at times. Hereditary was a horror film, and made over $80 million as a result. Was it more artistic than your general mainstream horror fare? Yes, but it still grabbed the attention of moviegoers. Coming-of-age film Lady Bird made over $80 million as well, playing to a wide demographic (it helped that Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet both starred).
They had another hit on their hands this year — Talk to Me. The Australian horror film will get a sequel after making over $68 million.
This news may scare A24 loyalists. Let's wait to see how it all plays out before jumping on the studio. They were rumored to be in the hunt for the rights to the Halloween series. It remains to be seen if they're still in the running.
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