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Cannes: Rebel Wilson was in the news on the opening day of the Cannes Film Festival, where sales agents for her debut film The Deb announced that they had clinched a US distribution deal.
A musical comedy about teenage girls set in a small Australian town, the film has been mired in squabbles between Wilson, her co-producers and the film’s star Charlotte McInnes for more than two years.
Protagonist Pictures, which holds worldwide rights to The Deb, clinched the deal with a young US distributor, Sunrise Films, which has a small slate of independent films. The film has also been sold in the United Kingdom, where it was supposed to release earlier this year but has yet to make an appearance.
Meanwhile, a succession of squabbles has raged around the production.
Protagonist Pictures picked up the film after it screened on the final night of the Toronto Film Festival in September 2024. It has combined news of the US deal with the announcement of a “relaunch” of the film at this year’s Cannes market, clearly hoping it will echo the kind of success enjoyed by hit 1990s Australian films Muriel’s Wedding and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, both of which launched in Cannes.
According to UK trade magazine Screen, sources on the ground in Cannes say there was strong interest in the film in Toronto when it first screened. That evaporated when Wilson posted a series of furious diatribes on social media against the film’s co-producers and McInnes. MacInnes is currently suing Wilson for defamation in Sydney’s Federal Court.
There was no hint of wariness, however, from the head of Protagonist Picks – a boutique offshoot of Protagonist Pictures – in an article in Variety announcing the latest deal.
“We’re thrilled to welcome The Deb to Protagonist Picks and to see Sunrise Films come on board,” said Isabel Ivars. “Rebel has delivered a bold, distinctive directorial debut, a hugely entertaining musical comedy with real heart, originality and broad commercial appeal.”
The Deb is at the populist end of the Protagonist Picks slate, which also includes Jimpa – a new dramedy from Australian director Sophie Hyde, who made Good Luck to You Leo Grande – and the astringently arthouse Rose of Nevada, a time-travel ghost story by Mark Jenkin set among Cornish fishermen.
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