Focus acquires Thoroughbred, starring Taylor-Joy, Cooke, and Yelchin

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

Writer/director Cory Finley's thriller THOROUGHBRED made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this past Saturday, and the very next day it was announced that Focus Features had acquired the worldwide rights to the film for around $5 million. Other buyers who had been interested in picking up the film included The Orchard and Netflix.

THOROUGHBRED is the story of

two teenage girls in suburban Connecticut who rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart. In the process, they learn that neither is what she seems to be, and that a murder might solve both of their problems.

The actresses who play the teenage girls will be familiar to most horror fans: they are played by Anya Taylor-Joy (THE WITCH, MORGAN, SPLIT) and Olivia Cooke (OUIJA, THE QUIET ONES, Bates Motel). As a fan of both actresses individually, I'm definitely interested in checking out a movie in which they share scenes, especially when those scenes apparently involve them plotting a murder.

Paul Sparks, Francie Swift, Kaili Vernoff, and the late Anton Yelchin co-star.

THOROUGHBRED was produced by Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Kevin Walsh, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash, with Ryan Stowell, Ted Deiker, and Declan Baldwin serving as executive producers.