Rob Lowe comedy The Musical lands U.S. theatrical release

The Musical, a Sundance comedy with Rob Lowe, Will Brill and Gillian Jacobs in the mix, is headed for U.S. theaters on Sept. 18.

Blue Harbor Entertainment and Variance Films have acquired domestic rights to the film, Deadline reported. Unapologetic Projects Partners is also working with the two companies on the nationwide theatrical rollout.

The movie marks the first feature as director for Giselle Bonilla, an actress turned filmmaker. It premiered in January in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, according to Deadline.

Brill plays Doug Leibowitz, described in the report as a frustrated playwright who has become a middle-school theater teacher and still dreams of New York. Brill won a Tony for featured actor for Stereophonic.

The trouble starts when Doug’s former girlfriend, played by Jacobs, begins dating Brady, the school principal played by Lowe. Deadline reported that Doug’s professional jealousy and personal resentment send him into a plot to damage Brady’s standing and threaten his Blue Ribbon award by secretly putting on an wildly unsuitable play with his students.

Jacobs is known for The Bear, Community and Girls. Lowe’s credits cited by Deadline include Parks and Recreation, The Third Parent and 9-1-1: Lone Star.

Bonilla said in a statement reported by Deadline: “For me, there is no greater rush than watching a comedy in a theater with an audience. I am forever grateful to these partners for providing The Musical with that opportunity.”

Bonilla is a Sundance Institute alum through the Ignite x Adobe Fellowship, and she has also been a Latino Film Institute x Netflix Inclusion fellow and a Telluride FilmLAB fellow, according to Deadline. She and Alexander Heller, both American Film Institute alums, first worked together on a short version of The Musical. That short won the Audience Award at the American Cinematheque’s 2024 Proof Film Festival and received a jury special mention.

The feature’s producers are Lowe, Greg Lauritano, Heller, Findlay Brown and Jordan Backhus. Deadline listed the executive producers as Gillian Bohrer, Jonathan Levine, Chris Quintos Cathcart, Tyler Boehm, Bonilla, David Duque-Estrada, Sean Calvano, Vince Jolivette, Jiarui Guo, Dan Reardon, Kyle Fox, Luke Daniels and Alan Pao.

WME Independent arranged the rights deal on behalf of the filmmakers, according to the report.

Blue Harbor, led by Amanda Sherwin, Mike Messina and Seth Needle, has recently released titles including Ricky, Kangaroo Island, An Autumn Summer and Storm Rider: Legend of Hammerhead, Deadline reported. The company is also set to release the sci-fi thriller Orion this fall.

Variance’s theatrical work cited by Deadline includes AMC concert event films tied to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, as well as releases involving Drive My Car, Flow, The Substance, Die My Love, Resurrection and A Nice Indian Boy.

This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.