Gunpowder & Sky nabs Aubrey Plaza’s raunchy comedy “The Little Hours”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Gunpowder & Sky, the upstart studio co-founded by MTV veteran Van Toffler, has acquired the raunchy nun comedy The Little Hours, following its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter reveals.

Jeff Baena wrote and directed the irreverent adaptation of Giovanni Boccaccio's 14th-century work The Decameron, following a young servant who hides from his master at a convent full of emotionally unstable nuns in the Middle Ages.

Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci, Molly Shannon, Jemima Kirke, Lauren Weedman, Adam Pally and John C. Reilly make up the ensemble cast.

Gunpowder & Sky will release the film theatrically in North America and key international territories. "I wasn't sure it would be possible, but we managed to find the most outrageous and irreverent film at Sundance, which happens to be written and directed by an amazing talent in Jeff, with killer performances by some of the most hilarious established and up-and-coming film actors," Toffler said Thursday in a statement.

Toffler co-founded Gunpowder & Sky with Floris Bauer and Otter Media, the joint venture of The Chernin Group and AT&T. In announcing the venture last January, Toffler described it as a place to tell stories that range from 90 seconds to 90 minutes.

The company last year released T Bone Burnett's Drawn & Recorded on Spotify. But a series of moves show that it isn't shying away from feature-length projects, as Gunpowder & Sky purchased sales and distribution company FilmBuff and startup Supergravity Pictures in 2016.

This was Gunpowder & Sky's first year buying at Sundance, and Little Hours will be its first theatrically distributed project. "I was blown away by the Gunpowder & Sky team's infectious passion and unique vision for how to unleash this film," said Baena. "It's refreshing to find a distribution partner on the same wavelength and exciting to explore a legitimate theatrical model. I am truly honored to have our film represent Gunpowder & Sky on their maiden voyage."

Plaza produced the film with Liz Destro. Josh Bachove, Alessandro Bertolucci, Daniel McGilvray and Shahrzad Davani co-produced. Matthew Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Charles Bonan, Kim Leadford, Carlos Cusco, Emerson Machtus, Fernando Loureiro, Roberto Vasconcellos, William G. Santor and Andrew Chang-Sang are executive producers.