NEW YORK (AP) – Though most of the films that have debuted during the pandemic never got to screen for packed movie houses, “Palm Springs” had the kind of premiere filmmakers dream of.
At the Sundance Film Festival in January, the time-loop romantic comedy, starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti drew big laughs, enthusiastic reviews and a record deal for the festival. Hulu and the indie distributor Neon acquired “Palm Springs” for $17,500,000.69. The extra cents were suggested after negotiations stretched deep into the night by Samberg’s Lonely Island partner Akiva Schaffer, a producer on the film.
“We’ve been saying Hulu insisted. It was either Akiva or Hulu,” says Samberg, chuckling. “It might have been Akiva at, like, 5 a.m. after staying up all night making a deal and having been drinking earlier in the night. Or it was Hulu. I can’t quite recall.”
That memory may be distant and from another lifetime, entirely. But “Palm Springs,” which premieres Friday on Hulu and in drive-in theaters, has found itself oddly suited to right now. The film, the feature debut of director Max Barbakow and screenwriter Andy Siara, is about a bridesmaid, Sarah (Milioti), who, after an encounter with a guest, Nyles (Samberg), at her sister’s wedding, falls into a time loop. She begins reliving the day over and over again, a cycle that Nyles has already been stuck in for so long he can’t remember.
When other movies were postponing their releases, “Palm Springs” opted to essentially stay put. With people in some state of lockdown across the country, a movie about the comedy of reliving the same day became weirdly appropriate. A time loop opened, and “Palm Springs” dove in.