Saban Films announced today the acquisition of worldwide rights to the upcoming comedy The 4:30 Movie, directed and written by Kevin Smith (Clerks III, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, Red State).
Set in the summer of 1986, The 4:30 Movie is a coming-of-age story about three sixteen-year-old friends (played by Austin Zajur, Nicholas Cirillo, and Reed Northrup) who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. But when one of the guys also invites the girl of his dreams (Siena Agudong) to see the latest comedy, each of the teens will learn something serious about life and love before the credits roll.
Set in the mobile phoneless, social media-free era of the ’80s, Smith shot The 4:30 Movie at his Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey—the same movie theater he haunted every weekend as a teenager. Two years ago, Smith and his co-owners saved the century-old Atlantic Highlands bijou from demolition, renaming it after his podcast theater.
The cast features an all-star ensemble that includes Ken Jeong (The Hangover, The Masked Singer), Sam Richardson (Veep, Ted Lasso), Genesis Rodriguez (Tusk, The Umbrella Academy), Justin Long (Barbarian, Goosebumps), Jason Lee (Almost Famous, My Name is Earl), and Rachel Dratch (I Love My Dad, Saturday Night Live).
The cast is rounded out by Kate Micucci (The Big Bang Theory, Duck Tales), Adam Pally (Sonic the Hedgehog, The Mindy Project), Harley Quinn Smith (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Cruel Summer), and Method Man (How High, Power Book II: Ghost).
“The day we bought Smodcastle Cinemas, I not only reclaimed an integral piece of my childhood, but I also suddenly had access to a visually interesting and cost-free movie location!” said Smith.
“So I started writing a personal paean to the past for us 70’s and 80’s kids – the pre-information generation who grew up without the Internet, when romance and relationships required much more than a swipe to get started, and the idea of asking out someone you had a crush on was as terrifying as the looming threat of nuclear war.”
“Kevin has been one of the defining voices in American Independent Cinema for 30 years now, and The 4:30 Movie is like a Valentine to moviegoers from a lifelong film fan that also acts as his most personal production yet. This is our second of hopefully many movies together,” said Jonathan Saba, Chief Content Officer of Saban Films.
The 4:30 Movie marks the second time Saban Films and Kevin Smith have collaborated. They previously collaborated on the highly successful Jay and Silent Bob Reboot in 2019, which scored one of the top per-theater average openings of the year amongst titles like Parasite and Avengers: Endgame.
Kevin Smith will embark on a multi-city national tour this summer with The 4:30 Movie, followed by a nationwide theatrical rollout.
The film is produced by Liz Destro, Josh Bachove, and Jordan Monsanto. The executive producers include Bill Bromiley, Shanan Becker, and Jonathan Saba. Jonathan Saba and Liz Destro negotiated the deal for Saban Films on behalf of the filmmakers.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.