Arthouse streamer Mubi has secured the rights to Alex Ross Perry’s Pavements following its world premiere in the Orizzonti section at the Venice International Film Festival.
Mubi nabbed the portrait of the influential ’90s indie band in all rights deals for the U.K, Ireland, Germany, Austria, France, and Canada. It also scooped up exclusive SVOD rights in the U.S., where Utopia is releasing the film theatrically.
Perry, known for features like Her Smell and Listen Up Philip, is also a prolific music video director and helmed Pavement‘s video for Harness Your Hopes in 2022. For Pavements, he uses different formats and genres — from documentary to musical comedy to museum exhibition — to present the work of the alt-rock band whose reputation has only grown since their ’90s heyday.
Calling the two-hour-plus result both “exhaustive and enthusiastic,” THR reviewer Jordan Mintzer noted “You don’t have to be a major fan of Pavement, or director Alex Ross Perry,” to enjoy the film “but it certainly helps.”
Mubi, which does theatrical releases in several international territories, recently tested the domestic waters with the bow of Coralie Fargeat’s body horror drama The Substance, starring Demi Moore, which has grossed around $7 million to date. Other recent acquisitions include Andrea Arnold’s Bird and Magnus von Horn’s The Girl With the Needle, both Cannes titles.
