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One of the Most Marketable Films of Sundance 2009 Remains Unsold

Posted on Monday, January 26th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta

As the 2009 Sundance Film Festival comes to a close, I was shocked to learn that Derrick Comedy’s Mystery Team has still not been bought by a big Hollywood distributor. This is shocking for a number of reasons, first of which is that Mystery Team is probably the most marketable unsold film in the entire festival. Some might argue that I Love You Philip Morris might take the top slot, but big actors like Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor might not be enough to sell a romantic comedy about two gay men to Middle America.

Mystery Team is a sketch comedy film which transcends the genre, features no huge stars (although, Aubrey Plaza is going to be HUGE), but has more laughs than 99% of Hollywood comedies, and a better concept to boot (you can read my full review here). At its worst, Mystery Team could easily be the next Super Troopers, and its very best, if marketed well, it has the potential to reach Napoleon Dynamite-like numbers. The best part, it already has a huge Internet fanbase built in. Out of all the Sundance coverage posted on /Film, our Mystery Team review garnered the most amount of traffic, by far. And I’ve heard the same from other movie website webmasters.

So it’s shocking to me that no distributor has picked this movie up. I mean, it couldn’t have cost a lot to make. It was shot on digital video with the RED camera, and the main cast decided to donate their entire salaries back into the production. The film doesn’t look low budget by any means. And the high concept comic storyline seems like an easy sell to a generation of college-age kids who grew up reading Encyclopedia Brown.

Even Sony Pictures Classics couldn’t fuck it up (oh wait, they would…). I know it’s become very cliche, but this is the perfect film for Fox Searchlight. They have perfected the sneak preview screening platform release that this film so desperately requires. So is anyone going to step up? This film plays fantastically on the big screen. I saw it at the premiere midnight screening at the Library and everyone was going nuts. It would be a shame to see a direct-to-dvd release.

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Tags

Comedy, Mystery/Suspense, Sundance, 

  • Nick
    Sorry to be off topic, but what happened to Faraci vs. Billington? I just watched it , closed it and then came back to send to a friend and it's gone. The link gives you a 404 error now.
  • Decided that it was best to remove it as it became clearer and clearer that it was doing no good for anyone involved or the business of movie blogging. I understand that it was funny, but please respect my decision. It was a hard one, but I really feel like its the right decision to make. That said, lets please keep this comment thread about Mystery Team.
  • Nick
    I understand the decision a bit more after looking through the twitterings.

    Having said that, it's removal got me to finally watch the Mystery Team trailer, and it does look fantastic. I think the marketing issue might be that it'd be a tough sell in a green band trailer, and since there are no "names" (even after Funny People, it doesn't seem like Plaza's role would be big enough to sell the move on) added to the fact that though it's on the RED and the RED kicks ass, it still kind of looks like a low-budget digital video movie, something people would be more likely to consume in chunks on the internet then in a theater.

    Perhaps given the nature of the film it would work better as an art-house movie. There's a theater in Chicago that I go to quite a bit that plays all the new foreign and american indie stuff that corporations won't touch, and have all kinds of midnight and special screenings that draw big crowds and run for weeks. Targeting the 20-30 something people who live in bigger cites seems like it'd be the best way to build an audience.
  • You're not wrong. I like the trailer but I think the trailer could sell the concept of the movie more - the whole little kid mystery team, now grown up, still solving crimes, the loser kids of the community. The fact that the film contains no big stars isn't too big of a deal -- it certainly didn't hurt napoleon dynamite or super troopers. This film just needs a good word of mouth marketing push and a glossy trailer and a few red band online viral clips.
  • One thing that could sell is the 30Rock names. The writer of the emmy winning show is the main star, I'm sure that could turn some heads.
  • James
    Just look at, Knockedy Up, Seth Rogen wasn't a star. 40 Year Old Virgin, Steve Carrell, not a star. You don't really need stars to sell comedy's now a days. It just has to look funny.
  • I really want to see this it looks hilarious hopefully it will get picked up soon
  • The song is called get like me by childish gambino in case anyone was wondering.
  • eldro
    In case anyone else was wondering, childish gambino is the pseudonym of Donald Glover, centre actor in the top shot. I keep trying to figure why this guy hasnt got a bigger rep, he's a good comedic actor, a writer for 30 Rock and a better rapper than most of the garbage you find in the charts these days- talented man.
  • The Derrick Comedy team is right up there with Whitest Kids. That said, even if they had a full length feature with no script I would watch it for the almost certain laughs. Seeing as this plot sounds amazing I don't know how I could resist. Everyone should check out Derrick Comedy on youtube.
  • Oi Vey
    Isn't there a movie with the Whitest Kids U Know that's coming out? But it looks so...mainstream. On the other hand, there's zero studio control with Mystery Team and thank God for that. But it sucks that now they need a studio of some sort for support.

    I think it'll get picked up BY SOMEBODY hopefully within the Spring.

    Thank you Peter; I'm sure that some one out there in Hollywoodland will listen.
  • Oh man... Yeah they have a film coming out called Miss March. Not sure about much in the way of studio control as they wrote, starred in and directed it themselves but now I have two great comedies to look forward to.
  • Rango
    Direct.

    To.

    DVD.

    Bet ya hundred bucks.
  • bordo3k
    You owe us all a hundred bucks

    http://www.derrickcomedy.com/news/
  • Jordan
    woah. i can't believe that! i love derrickcomedy sooo much. those guys are extremely talented. i really hope it gets picked up. they really deserve it.
  • This film could be marketed as the new Napoleon.
  • Yes, lets market it just like Napoleon Dynamite, where everyone see's it then quotes it for a month, then promptly forgets about it for the rest of cinematic existence.
  • Paul'd
    Peter, this is the second post I've seen on here plugging Mystery Team... were you guys high or something when you saw it? I saw the film, and it was completely horrible. Horrible direction. Horrible acting, that bordered on annoying. AND horrible comedy that was seemingly written for three year olds.

    I'm a fan of Derrick comedy (in 2-5 minute form), but this was painful. STAY AWAY.

    I really don't know why they started swearing in the film, because I seriously thought it was made to be PG.
  • Wow. Everyone I've run into in Park City who has seen the film loved it.
  • Mystery Team was kick ass. I can remember a small amount of time that it was slow but for the most part the whole film was great and I haven't had that many laughs in a theater in a long time. The guys are really awesome and nice and really deserve to be in the big leagues with the Apatow comedy powerhouse. Change is good and any good change in comedy is great.
  • Paul'c
    If swearing is a problem for you, I suggest you go take your movie reviews to "Christian Spotlight". You can complain about the number of times the word crap was used with a 45 year old housewife from Des Moines.
  • Paul'd
    Swearing isn't my problem, the problem is it was as if the jokes were made for 9 year olds, but then they throw in a "fuck" to try and make it feel all grown up.

    And that's not my only problem.
  • Ford
    Your grammar is like a 9-year old's, so don't be angry if others would like to see the film for themselves and come to their own conclusions.
  • Paul'd
    Zing?

    I'm not angry, I'm just warning everyone that this "comic masterpiece" (as it's being reported) is really quite sub-par. If you're a fan boy, then go ahead, buy the 3-disc dvd and convince yourself it's hilarious.

    Consider yourself warned.
  • I would watch it.
  • Derrickcomedy is absolutely amazing. Anyone who hasn't seen any of their skits NEEDS to go to youtube or somewhere like that. I cannot wait to see this. I will surely buy it.
  • viewdrix
    I need to see this movie.

    If no one picks it up and they go with their pre-Sundance plan to sell the movie online, I'll buy it. At least the money will go back to them.
  • I bet if they even do sell it online, their massive fan base will naturally force them to be shown in the spotlight. And if Mystery Team does fail, (which I really hope it doesn't cause I've been wanting to see this forever) their next film will definitely be an even bigger hit.
  • Peter im sure you have some big connections, why cant you help in selling this film. I cant wait to see it.
  • PS I really loved the ending of the film. Great throwback.
  • I dug the basic premise of the film and chuckled at the trailer, then watched some of their sketch and was frankly underwhelmed. The only one I genuinely laughed at was "New Bike" for its childlike absurdity and over the top-ness.
    It was also short and sweet, something they do much better than their 5 minute + pieces. I have now watched the trailer again, and besides Donald Glover's line after he strips off the mustache at the beginning, I couldn't really find any new nuggets to be amused by.

    These folks do have some talent. Some of their satire on the college generation of today is sharp yet tends to dip into catering to the crowd they're actually making fun of. It floats and sinks depending on the length. So having said that, I'd like to see the movie, but am not too surprised it has not yet been picked up, based on the issues I've had with the length of their sketch work, I'm not sure how they could handle a feature.
    It does have some potential, and could be pushed in the right markets, I'm just not personally enthused.
  • I like the concept of little kid cops now grown up! But i dont think ill go see this movie though! i dont think the idea will hold up the whole way through! But i havent seen much of this so i dont know
  • I don't really have any interest in seeing Mystery Team. Still craving I Love You, Phillip Morris though!
  • Some of their sketch comedy was good, but quite a bit of it was completely awful. That's kind of how it is with a lot of these groups though. Whitest Kids are funny, but not every skit is full of laughs.

    Anyway out of all three of the guys in Derrick, I like the guy on the right the most by far, I can't remember his name at the moment. That sketch he did with another group, the one about making porn in the basement, that was fantastic.
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