The Gallerist Acquired by Roadside and Vertical
Roadside Attractions and Vertical have jointly acquired U.S. distribution rights to The Gallerist, the new crime comedy from director Cathy Yan (Birds of Prey, Dead Pigs). The film is opening in theaters on December 4, 2026.
The Gallerist stars Academy Award-winner Natalie Portman (Black Swan, May December), Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Scream), Academy Award- winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers, Only Murders in the Building), Emmy Award-winner Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us, American Fiction), and Emmy Award-winner Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover trilogy, Between Two Ferns).
The cast also includes Daniel Brühl (Rush, All Quiet on the Western Front), Global Pop Icon and Grammy winner Charli XCX (Crash, Brat), and Academy Award-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago, Wednesday).
Set against the glittering excess of Art Basel Miami, The Gallerist follows an ambitious gallery owner (Portman) clinging to the edge of elite society and desperate to prove herself on the heels of a nasty separation, as she faces mounting financial hardship.
What begins as an impromptu act of survival—when she conspires to pass off an accidental corpse as the centerpiece of her debut show—spirals into a sly game of deception, spectacle, and ticking-clock chaos as influencers and police converge. Will she end up famous, a felon, or both?
Written by James Pedersen (High Heat), the film is produced by Ash Sarohia (Killing Gunther), Sophie Mas and Natalie Portman (May December, Arco), Jonathan King (Spotlight, Roma, Dreamgirls), Tom McCarthy (Stillwater, The Loudest Voice), Rae Baron (Stillwater, Alaska Daily) and Zola Elgart Glassman (High Heat).
MRC is the studio behind the film, as well as the recently released Wuthering Heights, G20 and All of You, and the upcoming The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, A Place in Hell, The Best is Yet To Come, Unabomer, and Eloise and 2023’s Saltburn, American Fiction, and Fair Play. MRC is also known for hit TV series such as Poker Face, Terminal List, Ted, Ozark, and House of Cards.
“Cathy Yan’s wildly original film was a winner for us at Sundance; she assembled a phenomenal ensemble cast led Natalie Portman’s standout performance as a woman at the intersection of art and crime, revealing a dazzling comic edge along the way. It’s as fun as it is terrifying,” comments Roadside Attractions Co-Presidents Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff and Vertical CEO and Partner Peter Jarowey.
Cathy Yan’s debut feature, Dead Pigs, which she wrote and directed, won the Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Acting at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, among other accolades. She went on to direct the critically acclaimed Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Yan also directed an episode of the HBO series Succession, earning an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.
The deal was negotiated by Roadside Attractions Co-President Howard Cohen, CEO and Partner Peter Jarowey, and SVP of Acquisitions Tony Piantedosi on behalf of Vertical and XXXX on behalf of the filmmakers.
