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Home • News

Fox Searchlight Buys Nate Parker's Nat Turner Biopic, 'Birth of a Nation,' for $17.5 Million

The deal is largest in Sundance history.
‘The Birth of a Nation’ Wins Top Prizes at Sundance Film Festival
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
By Lauren Porter · Updated October 27, 2020

Nate Parker’s Nat Turner biopic is all the rage at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

After opening to critical acclaim,Variety reports that Fox Searchlight is currently finalizing a deal to buy the film for $17.5 million, which would make it one of the largest deals in the festival’s history.

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The film details the moments of Turner’s life that led to his leading a slave rebellion in 1831. Parker—who stars as Turner—wrote, directed, co-produced and used his own finances for Birth of a Nation. It took him a reported seven years to bring the film to fruition.

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The film co-stars How to Get Away with Murder actress Aja Naomi King, Gabrielle Union, Armie Hammer, Penelope Ann Miller and Jackie Earle Haley.