Discover 15 Sundance 2026 acquisition titles buyers are watching as distributors hunt for breakout films at the final Park City edition of Sundance.
Sundance Film Fest launches its final Park City edition
Every January, Park City becomes a snow-dusted marketplace of dreams, deals, and quiet desperation. Filmmakers clutch lanyards like lottery tickets. Buyers scan schedules the way traders watch markets.
This year feels different.
The Sundance 2026 acquisition titles come with extra weight, because this is the final Park City and Salt Lake City edition before the festival heads to Boulder in 2027. History is in the room, whether people admit it or not.
From Eccles Theatre premieres to whispered café meetings on Main Street, this year’s lineup is stacked with possibility.
New distributors are hungry.
Legacy players are recalibrating.
And somewhere between a panel in Salt Lake City and a late-night screening, the next awards-season contender will quietly change hands. If you love film markets, or simply love watching taste get validated in real time, this is your moment.
Why Sundance 2026 Feels Like a Market Turning Point
Sundance has always been more than a festival. It is a talent incubator, a deal room, and occasionally a pressure cooker.
The 2026 edition adds one more ingredient: urgency.
Buyers know this is the end of an era in Utah, and that nostalgia has flavor. Yes, flavor matters here, like a great sauce that makes everything taste sharper.
A new wave of US distributors will be on the ground, actively looking to stock their pipelines. Row K arrives with momentum after its first acquisition, Dead Man’s Wire, now playing in North American cinemas. Warner Bros’ untitled specialty distribution arm will be quietly taking meetings. Black Bear’s US operation is circling. So are 1-2 Special, Willa, Watermelon Pictures, and Aura.
This is the fun-loving chaos Sundance does best. Also, it is very relatable to anyone who has ever tried to close a deal before someone else steals it.
The Sundance 2026 Acquisition Titles Buyers Are Circling
Here is the simple truth: not everything needs distribution to be valuable, but value attracts attention. Among the Sundance 2026 acquisition titles, 15 features currently remain without distribution, and they are prime targets.
Several land in coveted Saturday afternoon and evening Eccles Theatre slots, which is never an accident. Olivia Colman leads Wicker, a project already sparking quiet buzz. Olivia Wilde brings an all-star cast together in The Invite, a chamber piece built for conversation-heavy dinners in Soho and post-screening debates in Berlin. Natalie Portman headlines The Gallerist, a title that feels tailor-made for Cannes sidebars and fall festivals in New York.
Schedules are set in Mountain Time, but make no mistake, these films will travel far. From Los Angeles screenings to London markets, from Toronto cocktail chatter to Parisian critic circles, these titles are already packing bags.
And yes, Sundance can still surprise us. That unpredictability is part of the fun-loving appeal, like ordering something unfamiliar off a menu and realizing it is the best thing you have tasted all year.
Buddy
Dir. Casper Kelly
Midnight
A brave girl and her friends must escape a children’s TV show.
Screenings: Jan. 22, 11.55pm, Library Centre Theatre (premiere); Jan. 23, 10am, Holiday Village Cinemas 4 (P&I)
Sales: UTA Independent Film Group, Range
Chasing Summer
Dir. Josephine Decker
Premieres
After losing both her job and boyfriend, Jamie retreats to her small Texas hometown, where friends and flings from a fateful high school summer turn her life upside down. Iliza Shlesinger and Megan Mullally star. Decker’s Shirley won the 2020 Sundance U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Auteur Filmmaking, and directed Madeline’s Madeline premiered in 2018.
Screenings: Jan. 26, 2.45pm, Eccles Theatre (premiere); Jan. 28, 11.30am Holiday Village Cinemas 1 (P&I)
Sales: UTA Independent Film Group, Cinetic
Frank & Louis
Dir. Petra Volpe
Premieres
The English-language debut by Volpe, whose Oscar-shortlisted Late Shift is Switzerland’s official submission this season, centres on a man serving a murder sentence who bonds with an aging inmate with dementia. Kingsley Ben-Adir and Rob Morgan star.
Screenings: Jan. 25, 6pm, Library Centre Theatre (premiere); Jan. 26, 12.30pm, Holiday Village Cinemas 2 (P&I)
Sales: TrustNordisk
The Gallerist
Dir. Cathy Yan
Premieres
Natalie Portman, Zach Galifianakis, Jenny Ortega and Da’Vine Joy Randolph star in the contemporary art world satire about a desperate gallerist who conspires to sell a dead body at Art Basel Miami. Yan’s debut feature Dead Pigs premiered in Sundance 2018 and she has directed Birds Of Prey.
Screenings: Jan 24, 9.30pm, Eccles Theatre (premiere); Jan. 25, 11.30am, Holiday Village Cinemas 1 (P&I)
Sales: CAA Media Finance
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!
Dir. Josef Kubota Wladyka
US Dramatic Competition
Set against the Tokyo ballroom dancing scene as Haru is coaxed back into the studio following a tragedy and falls for her new instructor. Rinko Kikuchi from Tokyo Vice and Babel stars.
Screenings: Jan. 22, 6.45pm, Eccles Theatre (premiere); Jan. 23, 5.30pm, Holiday Village Cinemas 1 (P&I)
Sales: CAA Media Finance
History Of Concrete
Dir. John Wilson
Premieres
After attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, Wilson (a cult favourite in the US with his comedy documentary series How To With John Wilson) tries to use the same formula to sell a documentary about concrete.
Screenings: Jan. 22, 9.15pm, The Yarrow Theatre (premiere); Jan. 24, 3.30pm, Holiday Village Cinemas 2 (P&I)
Sales: UTA Independent Film Group
The Incomer
Dir. Louis Paxton
NEXT
Domhnall Gleeson plays an awkward official sent to relocate a pair of siblings from their Scottish island idyll, where they hunt birds and talk to mythical creatures. Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke also star.
Screenings: Jan. 22, 5.30pm, The Ray Theatre (premiere); Jan 23, 3.30pm, Holiday Village Cinemas 2 (P&I)
Sales: CAA Media Finance, Verve Ventures, Charades
The Invite
Dir. Olivia Wilde
Premieres
Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton, and Wilde are the leads in the chamber comedy drama about a couple on the ropes who host the upstairs neighbours for dinner when everything that can go wrong goes worse. Wilde directed the Sundance 2020 short Wake Up and Don’t Worry, Darling.
Screenings: Jan. 24, 6pm, Eccles Theatre (public); Jan. 25, 7pm, Holiday Village Cinemas 4 (P&I)
Sales: UTA Independent Film Group
I Want Your Sex
Dir. Gregg Araki
Premieres
Cooper Hoffman and Olivia Wilde star in the comedic thriller about a young man who gets out of his depth when he secures a job working for the artist and provocateur Erika Tracy. The cast includes Charli XCX and Chase Sui Wonders from The Studio
Screenings: Jan. 23, 6.15pm, Eccles Theatre (premiere); Jan. 25, 10am, Holiday Village Cinemas 4 (P&I)
Sales: CAA Media Finance, Black Bear (international)
Josephine
Dir. Beth De Araújo
US Dramatic Competition
Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan and Mason Reeves star in the drama about an eight-year-old girl who acts up after she witnesses a crime in Golden Gate Park and the adults are helpless to console her.
Screenings: Jan. 23, 2.45pm, Eccles Theatre (premiere); Jan. 24, 4pm, Holiday Village Cinemas 4 (P&I)
Sales: WME Independent, CAA Media Finance
Knife: The Attempted Murder Of Salman Rushdie
Dir. Alex Gibney
Premieres
Master documentarian Gibney uses previously unseen footage captured by Salman Rushdie’s wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, to document his physical rehabilitation and spiritual revival after he was stabbed on stage in 2022.
Screenings: Jan. 25, 2.30pm, The Ray Theatre (premiere); Jan. 26, 9.30am, Holiday Village Cinemas 2 (P&I)
Sales: UTA Independent Film Group
Lady
Dir. Olive Nwosu
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
A fiercely independent young cab driver in the Nigerian capital Lagos meets a band of sex workers whose sisterhood pulls her into danger and joy, setting her on a journey towards transformation.
Screenings: Jan. 22, 6pm, Library Centre Theatre (premiere); Jan. 23, 8.30am, Holiday Village Cinemas 1 (P&I)
Sales: HanWay Films
The Shitheads
Dir. Macon Blair
Premieres
Blair (FX’s The Lowdown) returns to the site of his 2017 U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize winner I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore with a caper about two unqualified bozos hired to transfer a rich teen to rehab whose seemingly straightforward gig spirals into mayhem. Dave Franco, O’Shea Jackson, and Mason Thames star.
Not available online
Screenings: Jan. 23, 8.45pm, Library Center Theatre (premiere); Jan. 24, 12.30pm, Holiday Village Cinemas 2 (P&I)
Sales: WME Independent, CAA Media Finance
The Weight
Dir. Padraic McKinley
Premieres
Ethan Hawke stars in a Depression-era thriller as a father sent to a work camp where he is tempted with early release if he smuggles gold for the sadistic warden played by Russell Crowe.
Screenings: Jan. 26, 8.45pm, The Ray Theatre (premiere); Jan. 27, 11.30am, Holiday Village Cinemas 1 (P&I).
Sales: WME Independent (worldwide); CAA Media Finance (US co-rep)
Wicker
Dirs. Eleanor Wilson, Alex Huston Fischer
Premieres
Oliva Colman, in Sundance last year with Jimpa, stars as a fisherwoman who asks a basketmaker to weave her a husband. Co-directors Wilson and Huston Fischer were last in Sundance with 2020 selection Save Yourselves! Alexander Skarsgard also stars.
Screenings: Jan. 24, 2.45pm, Eccles Theatre (premiere); Jan. 25, 5.30pm, Holiday Village Cinemas 1 (P&I)
Sales: UTA Independent Film Group, CAA Media Finance (US); Black Bear (international).
Lessons From Last Year’s Breakouts
If anyone doubts Sundance’s continued relevance, last year answered them quickly. The 2025 edition delivered films now deep in awards campaigns. A24’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, starring Rose Byrne, proved that emotionally sharp storytelling still cuts through. Netflix’s Train Dreams moved quietly and confidently into the conversation. Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby gave A24 another reason to smile.
On the documentary side, The Alabama Solution at HBO Max and The Perfect Neighbor at Netflix showed that nonfiction remains a powerful acquisition lane.
These examples matter because buyers remember them. They taste success and want seconds. There is something undeniably fun-loving about that hunger, even when deals get tense.
The Cities, The Culture, The Stakes
Film markets mirror cities. Sundance feels like Park City in winter, but its influence stretches to Los Angeles boardrooms, London screening rooms, and late-night bars in Toronto where acquisitions are debated over whiskey. The culture is upscale, but the nerves are universal. Everyone wonders if they are backing the right horse.
That anxiety is relatable. It is also part of why Sundance remains compelling. You can feel it in Eccles Theatre lines and coffee shops in Salt Lake City. It is stressful, yes, but also strangely joyful. Like cooking a complicated meal for friends, knowing it might go wrong, but trusting the ingredients.
For context on how Sundance structures its marketplace, see the official Sundance Institute site here: https://www.sundance.org
Mini FAQ
Q: Why are Sundance 2026 acquisition titles especially important?
A: This is the final Utah-based edition before the festival moves to Boulder in 2027, adding emotional and historical weight to buyer decisions.
Q: Are new distributors really shaping the market?
A: Yes. Recently launched US distributors are actively hunting for standout films to define their identities.
Q: Do Eccles Theatre slots really matter?
A: Absolutely. Prime slots signal confidence and often correlate with stronger acquisition interest.
Park City’s Final Take
The Sundance 2026 acquisition titles represent more than films looking for homes. They are signals of where independent cinema is headed next. As Sundance prepares to turn the page on Park City, buyers and filmmakers alike are writing the last lines of a chapter that mattered.
If you care about where bold storytelling meets smart distribution, pay attention. Follow the deals. Watch who buys what. And revisit this list when awards season arrives.
