Sundance Opener ‘The Bronze’ Arriving in Theaters This Summer

The Bronze, a new comedy that served as the opening night title for the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, is coming to theaters this summer, courtesy of Relativity Media (who picked up the title shortly its Park City world premiere.) Melissa Rauch (co-star on the successful comedy series The Big Bang Theory) stars and co-wrote this bawdy indie about a coarse former gymnast whose small town celebrity status is threatened due to a rising gymnastics star. The Bronze get a limited release on July 10th, and go wide on July 31st.

The Bronze gained a bit of a reputation in Sundance for its lewd content. In the film, Rauch plays Hope Annabelle Greggory, a former top-tiered athlete who came in third place at the Olympics and been milking her fame ever since. Critics have compared the character to vulgar melding of Olympic darling Kerri Strug and not-so-darling Tonya Harding. A racy sex scene in the film between Rauch and co-star Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) in particular seemed to distinguish the title. In general, reviews for The Bronze weren’t particularly enthusiastic.

Regardless of critical reaction, The Bronze still piqued interest from distributors – Relativity Media won out in a bidding war shortly after the film made its world premiere to tune of a $3 million deal. Bryan Buckley directed the movie, marking his feature film debut – he previously earned an Oscar nomination for directing the 2012 live action short film Asad. Rauch co-wrote the screenplay with her husband Winston. Transparent star Jay Duplass and his brother Mark (Tammy) are among the films’ producers. Stan co-stars as does Gary Cole (Office Space), Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live) and newcomer Haley Lu Richardson.

The Bronze joins two other Sundance titles expected to hit theaters this summer: Dope, a critically admired dramedy picked up by Open Road Films will open June 12th, and Grand Jury Prize winner Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (picked up by Fox Searchlight Pictures) will open July 1st.