Sundance 2015: Jared Hess’ DON VERDEAN Picked up by Lionsgate

It’s not completely uncommon for films to get picked up for distribution before they even have their first screening at the Sundance Film Festival and such is the case with Jared Hess‘ upcoming comedy Don Verdean. Hess previously directed a little indie film called Napoleon Dynamite, which turned out to be a huge success for Fox Searchlight, so it isn’t a big surprise to see his next project get snatched up pretty quickly, especially considering the cast involved.

The film stars Sam Rockwell, Jemaine Clement, Amy Ryan, Danny McBride, Leslie Bibb and Will Forte, and revolves around Rockwell playing a biblical archaeologist who is hired by a small-town pastor to uncover ancient relics in the Holy Land, which he fails at miserably.

According to Deadline, Don Verdean has been picked by Lionsgate and will hopefully come out sometime this year, as I’m really excited about this one. If you’re in Park City for Sundance, it will be premiering on January 28th.