'Palm Springs', The Lonely Island's Time Loop Rom-Com, Arrives On Hulu In July

Palm Springs, the delightful time-loop romantic comedy produced by The Lonely Island, was acquired for more money than any other film in Sundance Film Festival history after it premiered at the festival earlier this year. The movie, which stars Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Cristin Milioti (Fargo, Black Mirror), and J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), finally has an official release date and a summer-friendly poster to go along with it.

I've been anticipating the Palm Springs release date for months now, because the film's time loop premise makes it perfect for this "every day is the same" era of the coronavirus quarantine we're all still living in. The Lonely Island took to Twitter to share the news that the film will play in some drive-in theaters and be available to stream on Hulu on July 10, 2020.

Neon, which just launched as a distributor a few years ago, has already formed a partnership with Hulu which has led to movies like Parasite and Portrait of a Lady on Fire playing on the streaming platform, but the Palm Springs deal made history as the largest acquisition in Sundance history. The rights to the film were reportedly bought for $17,500,000.69, beating the previous record-holder, Nate Parker's Birth of a Nation, by only sixty-nine cents. (Insert obligatory "nice" reference here.) Soon after that news made the rounds, a follow-up report suggested that the deal was actually closer to $22 million due to a "built in bonus structure" for the participants.

Here's the official synopsis for the movie:

While stuck at a wedding in Palm Springs, Nyles (Andy Samberg) meets Sarah (Cristin Milioti), the maid of honor and family black sheep. After he rescues her from a disastrous toast, Sarah becomes drawn to Nyles and his offbeat nihilism. But when their impromptu tryst is thwarted by a surreal interruption, Sarah must join Nyles in embracing the idea that nothing really matters, and they begin wreaking spirited havoc on the wedding celebration.

In my Sundance review, I said the film could end up being the funniest movie of 2020; that comment was made before the pandemic decimated the number of big new films that are being released this year, so now it's even more of a lock for that title.

While The Lonely Island produced the movie, they didn't direct it – the filmmaker behind it is an up-and-comer named Max Barbakow, and Lodge 49 writer Andy Siara wrote the screenplay. I'm very excited for you all to see this, so be sure to make a note to check it out on July 10 so you can see what all the hype is about.