Way back in the 1990s, audiences would have to wait for months to see buzzy Sundance Film FestivalHits like “Clerks” “Reservoir Dogs.”Some of the following will change in 2022The Sundance premieres will be right around the corner.
Because content is king in the world of streaming services and video-on-demand platforms, indie movies are still being gobbled up by studios and companies but often skipping theaters for digital play. For example, Hulu and Neon bought Andy Samberg’s time-loop comedy “Palm Springs”The 2020 fest was streamed online for $17.5 million, a record for the time. Apple paid $25 million last year. “CODA”You can run Apple TV+
2022 Sundance:Top film festival lineup: Kanye West and Bill Cosby. Princess Diana documentaries.
This is just the stuff you haven’t yet bought. Many use Sundance as a means to gin up interest before projects get released to the public: Case in point, Oscar-nominated “Judas and the Black Messiah”Bowing at Sundance 202111 days before HBO Max is removed
With this year’s virtual festival kicking off Thursday (and running through Jan. 30), here are the premiering movies and series that already have debut dates coming soon. Sundance will add more films as they become available.
“We Need to Talk about Cosby” (Jan. 30, 2008)
This four-part docu-series examining W. Kamau Bell is directed by W. Kamau Bell Bill CosbyHis life and work, as well as his fall from “America’s Dad” to former convicted sex offender, and how society comes to grips with this formerly beloved Black icon amid modern culture and the #MeToo movement.
What to watch: Showtime
‘jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy’ (Feb. 16)
Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah’s three-part documentary “event” follows Ye’s musical life from his early formative days to being an international artist and brand.
What to watch:Netflix (and in limited theatres February.10)
‘Fresh’ (March 4)
Modern dating meets the horror genre in the thriller starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as a woman who starts seeing an attractive dude (Sebastian Stan) after meeting him in the grocery store until a romantic weekend getaway reveals his strange appetites.
What to watch: Hulu
“Lucy and Desi” (March 4)
Amy Poehler directs this documentary about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz following their early years, their run as 1950s TV icons with “I Love Lucy”Ultimately, their professional lives together outlasted their marriage.
What to watch: Amazon Prime
‘Alice’ (March 18)
Keke Palmer portrays a Georgian enslaved woman who believes she is on a plantation from the 19th century. After she escapes from her brutal captor she realizes it is 1973.
What to watch:In theaters (VOD Date TBD).
‘After Yang’ (March TBD)
Colin Farrell plays a father who seeks a way to fix Yang, his young daughter’s beloved android companion and, more importantly during the process, reconnects with her and his wife (Jodie Turner-Smith).
What to watch:In theaters
“You Won’t Be Alone” (April 1)
Noomi Rapace stars in the tale of a 19th-century Macedonian girl who is kidnapped, transformed into a witch and then takes the form of a peasant she accidentally kills on a journey toward understanding what it means to be human.
What to watch:In theaters
‘Hatching’ (April 29)
The horror comedy centers on Siiri Solalinna, a Finnish gymnast who brings home an egg from the woods and takes care of it. The egg soon grows humongous, hatching a creature that the girl grows close to while keeping it secret from her demanding mom.
What to watch:VOD and in theaters
‘Happening’ (May 6)
Based on Annie Ernaux’s semi-autobiographical novel, a French college student becomes pregnant in 1963 and, seeing her future slipping away, weighs the personal, social and criminal risks of having an abortion.
What to watch:In theatres
‘Emergency’ (May 20)
RJ Cyler stars alongside Donald Elise Watkins as Black college seniors and their roommates, who are preparing for a night of legendary partying. They weigh the pros and disadvantages of calling 911 when they discover a white girl who is unconscious and acting badly on their floor.
What to watch:In theaters (and on Amazon Prime May 27)
“Downfall: The Case against Boeing” (2022 TBD).
Director Rory Kennedy’s documentary looks at the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max planes within five months of each other that cost nearly 400 lives and the work of journalists and family members to bring the company’s cover-up and negligence to light.
What to watch: Netflix
‘Master’ (2022 TBD)
In the social horror film, Regina Hall stars as the new dean of students at an elite New England university built on the site of a Salem-era gallows hill, and is one of three women forced to deal with the school’s haunted history.
What to watch: Amazon Prime
‘The Princess’ (2022 TBD)
Using exclusively archival footage, the documentary examines the obsessive fascination with Princess Diana’s private and public lives, her cultural impact and an evolving view of the British monarchy.
What to watch: HBO
‘Summering’ (2022 TBD)
James Ponsoldt (“The Spectacular Now”The coming-of-age adventure centers on four best friends who are about to enter middle school and stumble upon a mystery that they must solve in their final weekend of summer.
What to watch:In theaters
“When You Have Completed Saving the World” (2022 TBD).
Jesse Eisenberg directed the drama. Julianne Moore plays the role of a woman who runs a shelter to abuse women. She has trouble connecting with her musical teenage son Finn Wolfhard.
What to watch:In theaters
