--- description: The film tells the true story of slave-turned-rebel leader Nat Turner title: Fox Searchlight Buys 'The Birth of a Nation' for Record-Breaking Price image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Fox Searchlight Buys _The Birth of a Nation_ for Record-Breaking Price by [Devan Coggan / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Devan Coggan / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 26, 2016 6:01 PM CUT by [Devan Coggan / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Devan Coggan / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 26, 2016 6:01 PM CUT Nate Parker’s drama _The Birth of a Nation,_ which tells the true story of slave-turned-rebel leader Nat Turner, officially has a distributor: EW has confirmed that Fox Searchlight is closing a deal to acquire the film for $17.5 million, the most ever paid for a Sundance film. According to reports, companies like Netflix, Sony, and the Weinstein Company all made offers on _Birth of a Nation_ in an all-night bidding war, but it was Fox that emerged victorious. The $17.5 million deal is a new Sundance record. (The previous record holder was [widely considered](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/business/media/pace-of-deals-picks-up-at-sundance-festival.html?%5Fr=1 "undefined") to be _Little Miss Sunshine,_which Fox Searchlight also [purchased in 2006](http://www.ew.com/article/2006/01/27/sundance-film-festival-midpoint-report "undefined") for about $10 million.) Sharing a title with D.W. Griffith’s notorious 1915 silent film, which portrays the Ku Klux Klan in a positive light, Parker’s _Birth of a Nation_ instead follows Turner, who led a violent rebellion in Virginia in 1831\. In addition to writing and directing, Parker stars as Turner, and the entire project took seven years. Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, and Mark Boone Jr. also star. Since debuting Monday, _Birth of a Nation_ has earned rave reviews, and EW’s own Chris Nashawaty called it the festival’s “biggest spark yet.” Many have drawn comparisons to Steve McQueen’s _12 Years a Slave,_ which was also distributed by Fox Searchlight. _12 Years a Slave_ went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars and earn more than $187 million worldwide. [Deadline](http://deadline.com/2016/01/the-birth-of-a-nation-nate-parker-fox-searchlight-sundance-record-slave-rebellion-1201690450/ "undefined") was the first to announce the deal. _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/26/sundance-birth-of-a-nation-fox-searchlight "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http:www.ew.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4194287/fox-the-birth-of-a-nation-nat-turner-record-breaking-price/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4194287/fox-the-birth-of-a-nation-nat-turner-record-breaking-price/"},"headline":"Fox Searchlight Buys The Birth of a Nation for Record-Breaking Price","datePublished":"2016-01-26T18:01:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:27:26.597Z","description":"The film tells the true story of slave-turned-rebel leader Nat Turner","url":"https://time.com/4194287/fox-the-birth-of-a-nation-nat-turner-record-breaking-price/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Devan Coggan / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4194287/fox-the-birth-of-a-nation-nat-turner-record-breaking-price/","name":"Fox Searchlight Buys The Birth of a Nation for Record-Breaking Price"}}]}] ```