Searchlight Pictures Acquires “The Testament Of Ann Lee”
Disney’s Searchlight Pictures has picked up the rights to a new film, “The Testament of Ann Lee”, which tells the story of Ann Lee, who is the founder of the Shakers, a radical religious movement that began in the late 1700s.
Born in the northern English city of Manchester in 1736, Ann Lee was the charismatic leader of the religious movement that came to be known as the Shakers, for its ecstatic singing and dancing that involved shaking.
Persecuted in England for her loud form of worship and challenging the doctrines of the established church, she left for America in 1774 with a small band of followers, where she continued her mission to convert people to the Shaker movement.
The film stars Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout) in the title role, along with Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit), Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick), Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Christopher Abbott (Poor Things) and Stacy Martin (The Brutalist).
It has been directed by Mona Fastvold, who also wrote the script with Brady Corbet. It has been produced by Andrew Morrison, Joshua Horsfield, Viktória Petrányi, Fastvold, Corbet, Gregory Jankilevitsch, Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska, Lillian LaSalle and Mark Lampert.
This film has a huge list of executive producers, including Megan Ellison, Patrick Chu, Christopher Renteria, Tom Ogden, Diana Chen, Brantley Gong, Jesse Ozeri, Vincent Peone, Kyle Stroud, Zach Verdin, Dave Guenette, Scott Aharoni, Alihan Yalcindag, Sinan Eczacibasi, Saskia Duff, David Kaplan, Oleg Nodelman, Marcin Czernik, Claude Amadeo, Randal Sandler, Michael D’Alto, Chris Triana, Adam Paulsen, Michael Fowler, Zelene Fowler, Heather Nodelman, Marc Iserlis and The Burger Family.
Searchlight Pictures is planning on releasing the film in cinemas later this year, and it has already been shown at a number of film festivals, including Venice’s, where it was loved by critics and is now a contender for an Oscar nomination for Amanda’s performance. It will also premiere at the London Film Festival later this month. The movie’s budget was apparently around $10 million, and the deal was in the mid-to high-seven figures.
Roger’s Take: Searchlight Pictures is always in the running for some Oscar nominations, as its general focus is on smaller niche movies that appeal to award ceremonies, plus Disney always likes the prestige of having this type of movie, so it can claim it’s won or been nominated for lots of awards. The risk on this film is probably much lower, since it’s ready to be distributed and we should expect it to hit Hulu and Disney+ in early 2026, likely around the Oscars, should it be nominated.
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