Fraternal writer-director duo and Sundance faves Jay and Mark Duplass may be slowly going mainstream — first with 2010’s Jonah Hill dramedy “Cyrus,” and now with this month’s “Jeff Who Lives at Home,” starring Jason Segel and Ed Helms — but they still have a soft spot for micro-budget, dialogue-driven indies like their upcoming “Do-Deca-Pentathalon,” which hits theaters in June.
Starring Steve Zissis, Mark Kelly, and Jennifer Lafleur, “Do-Deca-Pentathlon” is about two highly competitive grown brothers who revive their epic childhood sporting event, The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, at a family reunion in order for one of them to finally claim ultimate victory.
It’s the kind of lo-fi “mumblecore” concept that brought the Duplasses success in their early films “The Puffy Chair” and “Baghead.”
“Almost 20 years ago, Fox Searchlight redefined how the world came to see independent film. Now, on the brink of the digital revolution, we couldn”t be happier to partner with them on their new initiative with Red Flag to further redefine how to get smaller, innovative films out into the world,” said Jay and Mark Duplass in a release.
“We formed a great relationship with Jay and Mark on ‘Cyrus’ and are excited to be partnering with them again,” added Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula.
Red Flag Releasing nabbed theatrical distribution rights, while Fox Searchlight Pictures will handle all other ancillary markets. The film will premiere at next week at SXSW, and will open theatrically in June.
“We”ve wanted to work with Mark and Jay for a long time, and are thrilled to be distributing ‘Do-Deca-Pentathlon’, which is vintage Duplass,” said RFR”s Paul Federbush.
Mark Duplass spends a fair amount of time in front of the camera these days as well. He was seen in “Humpday,” and on FX’s “The League,” and will soon appear in “Your Sister’s Sister” and “Safety Not Guaranteed.”