Gabrielle Union, a cast member in "The Birth of a Nation," poses at the premiere of the film at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Fox Searchlight purchased Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation" for $17.5 million dollars. The sale—the result of an overnight bidding war after the film's Sundance Film Festival screening—set the record for most expensive film purchase ever made at
Birth of a Nation, which Parker co-wrote, directed, and stars in, comes at a contentious time in Hollywood, with the industry and the Academy Awards accused of neglecting black talent. One film won't change that problem, but the Sundance popularity of
PARK CITY, Utah—“The Birth of a Nation,” a new movie about slave rebellion leader Nat Turner, set a record Tuesday for the biggest deal in the history of the Sundance Film Festival. Fox Searchlight acquired world-wide rights to the movie for $17.5
Gabrielle Union, a cast member in "The Birth of a Nation," poses at the premiere of the film at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)