Searchlight Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to Elijah Bynum’s acclaimed sophomore feature “Magazine Dreams,” winner of the Sundance Jury Award for Creative Vision. The provocative drama, which premiered to standing ovations at the festival, stars Jonathan Majors (“Creed III,” “Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco”), Haley Bennett (“The Girl on the Train”), Taylour Paige (“Zola,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Mike O’Hearn (“Con Man”), Harrison Page (“CSI”, “Grey’s Anatomy”), and Harriet Sansom Harris (“Licorice Pizza”). The film was penned by Bynum (“Hot Summer Nights”) and produced by Jennifer Fox (“Nightcrawler,” “Michael Clayton”), Dan Gilroy (“Nightcrawler,” “Andor”), Jeffrey Soros (“Shirley”) and Simon Horsman (“The Bye Bye Man”). Executive producers are Majors, under his production banner Tall Street Productions, Luke Rodgers and Andrew Blau.

“Magazine Dreams” follows aspiring bodybuilder Killian Maddox (Majors), who struggles to find human connection in this exploration of celebrity and violence. Nothing deters him from his fiercely protected dream of superstardom, not even the doctors who warn him of the permanent damage he causes to himself with his quest. The New York Times called Majors ‘formidable,’ with the Los Angeles Times noting his performance is ‘entirely astonishing,’ and the Hollywood Reporter highlighting his ‘incredible performance for the ages’.

“We are very proud to bring Elijah’s powerful film to the world,” said Searchlight Presidents Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum. “Jonathan’s tour-de-force performance, both physically and emotionally, affected us in profound ways.”

The “Magazine Dreams” crafts team is rounded out by director of photography Adam Arkapaw (“Macbeth,” “Animal Kingdom”), editor Jon Otazua (“Narcos”), production designer Freyja Bardell (“Run Sweetheart Run”), and Costume Designer Bex Crofton-Atkins (“Old Boys”).

Additional release plans will be announced at a later date.

CAA Media Finance brokered the deal with Searchlight execs Paul Hoffman and Chan Phung. 

Out of Sundance, Searchlight also nabbed rights to festival crowd pleaser and Jury Award (Ensemble) winner “Theater Camp,” Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s feature directorial debut penned by Noah Galvin, Gordon, Lieberman and Ben Platt, and starring comedic ensemble Gordon, Platt, Galvin, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, and Ayo Edebiri.