Acclaimed actress Danielle Deadwyler (“Till,” “The Piano Lesson”) is back on the big screen this summer with the release of R.T. Thorne’s “40 Acres.” The critically praised 2024 TIFF premiere — a survival action-thriller set after a plague has destroyed animal life on Earth — doesn’t open nationally until July 2. But select audiences can see the movie for free on the upcoming Juneteenth holiday, June 19, courtesy of distributor Magnolia Pictures.
As IndieWire exclusively announces, Magnolia will partner with top radio stations, DJs, and affinity groups in select U.S. cities to bring the film directly to local communities in honor of the 160-year anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States. (Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.)
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Cities and partners include Atlanta, GA (Majic 107.5/97.5), Birmingham, AL (WBHK-FM 98.7 KISS), Chicago, IL (Creative Cypher + Xl Fest), Dallas, TX (Juilliard Black Alumni Association – JBAA), Houston, TX (Prairie View University Alumni), Los Angeles, CA (Radio Free 102.3 KJLH), Nashville, TN (Joe Major from 101.1 The Beat), New Orleans, Los Angeles (BMIKE + Eternal Seeds), and New York, NY (DJ Sussone). Radio giveaways are underway in Atlanta, Birmingham, and Los Angeles, with other organizations offering outreach as well. Free screenings take place at select Regal, AMC, and Cinemark locations for respective cities, with Los Angeles’ screening taking place at The Broad Theater. To get a free ticket, tune into those stations or follow other organizations’ social and outreach platforms.
Led by executive producer Deadwyler, the film also stars Michael Greyeyes, Kataem O’Connor, Leenah Robinson, Jaeda LeBlanc, Haile Amare, Elizabeth Saunders, and Tyrone Benskin. Thorne (in his feature directing debut) wrote the film with Glenn Taylor.
Here’s the synopsis of the film: “In ‘40 Acres,’ after a plague eradicates all animal life, famine spreads across the globe, leaving society at war and in ruins, but the Freemans are surviving — even thriving — on their ancestral farm so long as they dispatch the occasional raiding party. But what good is surviving the end of the world if it means snuffing out your own humanity? Former soldier Hailey (Deadwyler) made that choice years ago, believing that isolation was the only way to protect her family. She and her partner, Galen (Michael Greyeyes), fled the collapse along with their children, fenced them off from the world and trained them to fight (and, yes, kill). But now, Hailey’s eldest, Emanuel (Kataem O’Connor), is a young man, and when he meets a young woman (Milcania Diaz-Rojas) in the forest beyond the fence, his need for human contact could place the whole family in jeopardy.”
Other upcoming Magnolia Pictures releases include Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s hit Sundance doc “Folktales,” Amy Berg’s music doc “It’s Never Over: Jeff Buckley,” and Sundance-winning queer thriller “Plainclothes.” Back in 2023, Magnolia got the word out on its award-winning trans documentary “Kokomo City” by offering a pay-it-forward ticket model that allowed audiences to buy a ticket for someone else. The company saw breakout box-office success from Sundance last year with the release of June Squibb-starrer “Thelma.”
