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Big stars will populate Park City's screens in January, when the 2017 Sundance Film Festival unspools a slate of 113 feature films.
The roster of Premieres, announced Monday, includes such big names as Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Geena Davis, Laura Dern, Jon Hamm, Armie Hammer, Woody Harrelson, Salma Hayek, Holly Hunter, Zoe Kazan, John Lithgow, Shirley MacLaine, Rooney Mara, Elizabeth Olsen, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeremy Renner, Ray Romano, Jason Segel, Amanda Seyfried, Molly Shannon, Kevin Spacey and Kiefer Sutherland.
Even the Sundance Institute's founder, Robert Redford, shows up in one of the titles.
Festival programmers had to choose from 4,068 feature films submitted. The number of submissions shows the state of independent film "is good because the decisions were hard," said festival director John Cooper. "What we were drawn to this year is the dimension of the work we saw — the details, the different subject matter. ... It tends to be even more and more original stories, and stories told in original ways."
One notable trend among the Premieres, said programming director Trevor Groth, was seeing stand-up comedians in lead acting roles. He named Kumail Nanjiani ("Silicon Valley"), who co-wrote (with his wife, Emily V. Gordon) and stars in "The Big Sick," a fictionalized take on their bumpy courtship; and Jessica Williams ("The Daily Show"), the title character in the romantic comedy "The Incredible Jessica James," the festival's Closing Night film.
Groth also noted the appearance of some screen legends in Sundance movies. Shirley MacLaine plays a businesswoman writing her own obituary in "The Last Word," while Sam Elliott plays an aging Western icon in "The Hero" (playing in the U.S. Dramatic competition, announced last week). And the acclaimed filmmaker James Ivory ("A Room With a View," "Howards End"), at age 88, makes his Sundance debut as co-writer of director Luca Guadagnino's sun-drenched Italian romance "Call Me by Your Name."
Redford co-stars in director Charlie McDowell's science-fiction romance "The Discovery," playing a scientist who finds proof of the afterlife. Segel plays Redford's son, who falls for a lonely woman played by Rooney Mara.
Watching the boss on screen is tricky, Groth said, but Redford "never puts pressure on us to show a film. If anything, he wants us to be very clear about why we're doing it, and that the film has earned it."
"It's a great part for [Redford], and a really interesting story," Cooper said. "I would only be hurting the director by not showing it."
Utah movie lovers will recognize the locations in another Premieres title, the crime thriller "Wind River." The movie, starring "Avengers" colleagues Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, was shot in and around Park City by "Sicario" and "Hell or High Water" writer Taylor Sheridan, who makes his directorial debut.
"I'm fascinated by what a strong sort of auteur voice he has," Groth said of Sheridan. "So much of his films are on the page. What he does with character and the nuanced details of the worlds they're in is truly remarkable."
With the Midnight section, featuring horror and other genre films, Groth was struck by the strong showing by woman directors. Marianna Palka directed and stars in "Bitch," as a married woman who takes on the persona of a vicious dog. And the horror anthology "XX" features four short stories each by female directors — including Karyn Kusama ("The Invitation") and Annie Clark (better known as the musician St. Vincent).
The Sundance Kids program will feature the English-language premiere of the stop-motion animated story "My Life as a Zucchini," which is Switzerland's entry for the foreign-language Oscar. Also in the Sundance Kids slate is this year's Salt Lake City opening-night film, the documentary "The Mars Generation," which features teens who hope to become astronauts on mankind's first missions to the red planet.
The 2017 Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 19-29 in Park City and at venues in Salt Lake City and the Sundance resort in Provo Canyon.
Twitter: @moviecricket —
How to Sundance
Details on the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
When • Jan. 19-29
Where • Park City and at venues in Salt Lake City and the Sundance resort in Provo Canyon.
Passes and ticket packages • On sale now at sundance.org/festivals. Some are sold out, but many are still available.
Individual tickets • On sale to Utah residents, Jan. 11-13, then available to everyone. Tickets are $25 for the first half of the festival in Park City (Jan. 19-24), $20 for Salt Lake City screenings and for the second half in Park City (Jan. 25-29).
Information • sundance.org/festivals