Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Global Rights to SXSW Award-Winning Film ‘Wishful Thinking’
Sony Pictures Classics has secured worldwide rights to the romantic comedy Wishful Thinking, starring Lewis Pullman and Maya Hawke. The film made its world premiere at SXSW, where it received the top Narrative Feature prize.
Written and directed by Graham Parkes, Wishful Thinking follows the tumultuous relationship between Julia, an ambitious game designer, and Charlie, a struggling musician. In an attempt to salvage their troubled partnership, the couple attends a couples-therapy seminar led by enigmatic twin healers. As they navigate their relationship, they discover that their emotional ups and downs create supernatural repercussions, affecting everything from earthquakes to the stock market and entire nations. The couple must confront whether their passionate love can endure amidst the chaos.
“Audiences have been craving a film like Wishful Thinking — romantic, unpredictable, and genuinely funny — and we can’t wait for them to experience Maya and Lewis in these deeply human and refreshingly hilarious leading roles,” Sony Pictures Classics stated on Friday. “Graham Parkes has crafted a film for a new generation of moviegoers with a romantic comedy meant to be shared in a theater, marking another collaboration we’re proud to continue with Pinky Promise and our new friends at Highway 10.”
Parkes expressed his gratitude, saying, “Sony Pictures Classics has been a singular champion of independent cinema for nearly 35 years, releasing some of my favorite movies of all time. So to be included among the films first brought to an audience by them is truly the ultimate recognition for the passionate work our cast and crew put into making Wishful Thinking.”
The film also features Amita Rao, Randall Park, Eric Rahill, Jake Shane, Kate Berlant, and Kerri Kenney-Silver. It is produced by Pullman for Buckwild Pictures; Dan Gedman and Matt Smith for Highway 10, which fully financed the film; and Kara Durrett for Pinky Promise. Executive producers include Alyssa Roehrenbeck, Sarah Mather, Jessamine Burgum, Cameron Fuller, and Graham Patrick Martin.
The deal was negotiated between Sony Pictures Classics and UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers.
