Sundance is currently going on in Utah, and we at themoviebanter are sadly not there. However, that does not mean we are not aware of what’s going on there.

On Monday, the independent picture “The Kids Are All Right” was screened for the first time. The film is about a lesbian couple (Annette Bening & Julianne Moore) and their dealings with introducing their child to his sperm donor (Mark Ruffalo).  Apparently the film drew a large applause after its screening on Monday, and is being very well received. Well, Focus Features, Universal’s mini-major studio, bought the rights to the movie for approximately $5 million. This purchase is the biggest film acquisition thus far at Sundance 2010.

Focus has a long track record with gay-themed films (i.e. Milk and Brokeback Mountain). Both Milk and Brokeback were major players during their respective awards seasons and turned out to be huge successes at the box office. Focus has not purchased a film at Sundance since it spent $10 million on “Hamlet 2,” which turned out to be a box office failure.  However, the studio does have a pretty solid batting average when it comes to these character driven movies.

Focus apparently outbid Summit for the rights to this film.

Some of the most successful films that have premiered at Sundance over the years include The Blair Witch Project, Little Miss Sunshine, Saw, Shine, Boiler Room, and The Usual Suspects. There are also plenty others that debuted at Sundance but did not hit big until being released on DVD (i.e. Donnie Darko).

It will be interesting to see how the investment in “The Children Are All Right” pays off.  Keep your eyes open for when this film hits a theater near you.

Are you interested in seeing this?