Friendship: A24 acquires comedy starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd

After A24 picked up The Brutalist from an amazing reception at the Toronto International Film Festival, the indie studio has also made a play for the Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd comedy Friendship. According to Deadline, sources have said the deal that A24 shelled out reached seven figures. The film also stars  Kate Mara, Jack Dylan Grazer, Josh Segarra, Billy Bryk, Jason Veasey, Jon Glaser, Eric Rahill, Conner O’Malley, Carmen Christopher, Craig Frank, Omar Torres, Jacob Ming-Trent, Daniel London, Whitmer Thomas and Raphael Sbarge. 

The plot for the new comedy reads, “A suburban dad (Tim Robinson) becomes hellbent on being BFFs with his charismatic new neighbor (Paul Rudd).” Andrew DeYoung wrote and directed the film. The movie’s producers include Nick Weidenfeld, Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz, and John Holland. Paul Rudd, Tracy Rosenblum, Andrew DeYoung, and Alexis Garcia are on board as executive producers.

Our EIC, Chris Bumbray, got to see the movie at a screening during TIFF and glowed about it in his review, “It’s also surprisingly nuanced about how hard it is to make friends as an adult male. Indeed, we’re not always wired that way, with our natural inclination as we get older being to hibernate with our families. It’s not true for everyone, but some folks watching this will relate to how Robinson’s character develops a bro crush on Rudd and wants to be instant best buds, even if the way he goes about it is certifiably insane.”

Robinson is also set to bring a new show to HBO called The Chair Company with his creative partner Zach Kanin. Written and executive-produced by Robinson and Kanin, The Chair Company focuses on a man (Robinson) investigating a far-reaching conspiracy after an embarrassing workplace incident. Robinson and Kanin met while working as writers on Saturday Night Live. They’ve collaborated on other projects, such as Comedy Central‘s Detroiters and the sketch comedy series I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson for Netflix. The latter is a massive hit for Netflix, with new episodes planned. The show also boasts the comedy tour I Think You Should Leave Live: Tim Robinson & Zach Kanin, featuring the duo in various hilarious bits and scenes.

I Think You Should Leave is an award-winning series after taking home prizes at the WGA Awards in the Comedy/Variety Sketch Series category with awards for the show’s first two seasons. The duo won Emmys for Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series in 2023, with Robinson snagging Emmys for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.