EXCLUSIVE: Bleecker Street has dated their Sundance premiere title The Wedding Banquet starring Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone for April 18 while their Telluride acquisition, the Bill Murray and Naomi Watts movie The Friend will start its limited rollout on March 21.
They’re both part of a 2025 theatrical release slate which includes Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths which is getting a wide release on Jan. 6, the Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun movie Love Me on Jan. 31; the Riz Ahmed, Sam Worthington and Lily James movie Relay in Q2 and the Damian Lewis and Thomasin McKenzie Feckham Hall later in the year.
“We are excited to unveil our 2025 theatrical lineup, which truly embodies the diverse, bold, and original storytelling that we are passionate about championing at Bleecker Street,” said Bleecker Street CEO Andrew Karpen and President Kent Sanderson. “With a star-studded roster of filmmakers and talent, across a wide array of genres, these upcoming films promise to deliver unforgettable cinematic experiences for audiences. We can’t wait to share what else is to come in the new year and beyond.”
Bleecker Street celebrated its 10th anniversary earlier this year.
Hard Truths is cleaning up on the awards circuit with a Best Screenplay win and Best Independent Film ranking by the National Board of Review, and wins for its star Marianne Jean-Baptiste at New York Film Critics Circle, LA Films Critics, and noms at Critics Choice and Gotham Awards, as well as a Film Independent Spirit nom for feature in International Film. The pic had a qualifying run on Dec. 6.
Sam and Andy Zuchero’s feature directorial debut Love Me from ShivHans Pictures premiered at Sundance earlier this year. In the movie a buoy and a satellite meet online long after humanity’s extinction. As they learn what life was like on Earth, they discover themselves and what it means to be alive and in love. ShivHans Pictures will co-release with Bleecker Street.
Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s The Friend follows a New York writer and teacher as her life is thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor dies suddenly and bequeaths her his beloved 150 lb. Great Dane, named Appollo. The dog immediately creates practical problems for Iris, yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with the animal, she begins to come to terms with her past, her lost friend, and her own creative inner life. Emmy Award-winner Ann Dowd and Constance Wu also star. After the pic’s March 21 limited launch it will go wide on March 28.
Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet centers around Min who makes a proposal frustrated commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris: a green-card marriage with their best friend Angela in exchange for her partner Lee’s expensive IVF. Elopement plans are upended, however, when Min’s grandmother surprises them with an extravagant Korean wedding banquet. Also starring in the movie is Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen, and Youn Yuh-jung.
Relay, written by Justin Piasecki and directed by David Mackenzie, is a high-concept thriller about a reclusive middleman for would-be whistleblowers seeking to settle with corporate malefactors. The title made its global premiere at TIFF this year.
Fackham Hall, written by comedian Jimmy Carr in his screenwriting feature debut with Patrick Carr and the Dawson Brothers (The Bubble), is a rapid-fire spoof of period dramas like Downton Abbey in the spirit of Airplane! BAFTA-nominated director Jim O’Hanlon directs with a cast that also includes Emma Laird, Tom Felton and Katherine Waterston.
