Seth Rogen’s An American Pickle finds a home at HBO Max

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

It's been announced that HBO Max, the new digital streaming service from WarnerMedia, has acquired the worldwide rights from Sony Pictures to Seth Rogen's upcoming comedy AN AMERICAN PICKLE. Upon purchasing the pickle-related project, WarnerMedia has opted to release the feature this summer exclusively under the studio's Warner Max label.

Originally, Sony had plans to release the film in theaters later this year. However, this was before the coronavirus pandemic had turned Hollywood upside down. With theater closures being what they are, Sony opted to relinquish the rights to Rogen's latest comedic effort. The move to HBO Max is being viewed as a positive for all involved as the producers — Rogen and his Point Grey producing partners Evan Goldberg and James Weaver — get to present their film this year after all, while the streamer gets to add an original, studio-made release to its early-days library.

Here's the official logline for AN AMERICAN PICKLE:

Seth Rogen stars as Herschel Greenbaum, a struggling laborer who immigrates to America in 1920 with dreams of building a better life for his beloved family. One day, while working at his factory job, he falls into a vat of pickles and is brined for 100 years. The brine preserves him perfectly and when he emerges in present-day Brooklyn, he finds that he hasn't aged a day. But when he seeks out his family, he is troubled to learn that his only surviving relative is his great-grandson, Ben Greenbaum (also played by Rogen), a mild-mannered computer coder whom Herschel can't even begin to understand.

The movie is an adaptation of the 2013 New Yorker series Sell Out by Simon Rich, and is set to be directed by Brandon Trost, Rogen's cinematographer for THIS IS THE END, NEIGHBORS and THE INTERVIEW.

"HBO Max is in the market for motion pictures that stand out," said HBO Max CCO Kevin Reilly in a statement. "And An American Pickle does stand out, with Seth in this wonderfully original, funny and heartfelt film that we look forward to debuting this summer."

Rich adapted his own script for the film, which he will also executive produce alongside Point Grey's Alex McAtee and Ted Gidlow.

"We worked very hard and put as much of ourselves in this story as possible," said Rogen. "We're very proud of the end result and we can't wait for people to get to see it."

HBO Max will launch on May 27.