Sundance 2026 Movies Sold So Far: SPC’s Third Buy Is John Turturro Drama ‘The Only Living Pickpocket in New York’
#Sundance 2026#Sony Pictures Classics#John Turturro#Noah Segan#Rian Johnson#Film Acquisition#Independent Film#Sundance Festival
📌 Key Takeaways
Sony Pictures Classics acquired 'The Only Living Pickpocket in New York' at Sundance 2026
The film is written and directed by Noah Segan and produced by MRC and Rian Johnson's T-Street
Only about a dozen of 90-plus films at Sundance arrived with distribution secured
Sumerian Pictures made a seven-figure deal for award-winning 'Josephine'
Netflix acquired documentary short 'The Baddest Speechwriter of All' directed by Stephen Curry
📖 Full Retelling
Sony Pictures Classics acquired Noah Segan's drama 'The Only Living Pickpocket in New York' starring John Turturro at the Sundance Film Festival on February 24, 2026, marking the distributor's third purchase at this year's event. The film, produced by MRC and Rian Johnson's T-Street, follows an aging pickpocket struggling to adapt to a cashless society who steals a USB drive and incurs the wrath of a crime family. The acquisition comes with plans for a theatrical release this fall, and the ensemble cast includes notable actors such as Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price, Tatiana Maslany, Victoria Moroles, and Steve Buscemi. This purchase is part of a flurry of distribution deals at Sundance 2026, where only about a dozen of the 90-plus films arrived with distribution already secured. Other notable acquisitions include Sumerian Pictures' seven-figure deal for 'Josephine,' which won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Prize at Sundance, and Netflix's acquisition of the documentary short 'The Baddest Speechwriter of All,' directed by Ben Proudfoot and NBA star Stephen Curry. The festival continues to be a crucial marketplace for independent cinema, with distributors competing for films that show strong critical reception or commercial potential.
🏷️ Themes
Film Distribution, Independent Cinema, Sundance Festival
John Michael Turturro ( tər-TOOR-oh, Italian: [turˈturro]; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his varied roles in independent films, as well as his frequent collaborations with the Coen brothers and Spike Lee. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award and nomin...
Noah Segan is an American actor. He is best known for his work with filmmaker Rian Johnson (Looper, Brick, the Knives Out film series) as well as his appearance in the horror film Deadgirl.
Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American arthouse film production and distribution company that is an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment and part of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group. It was founded in January 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and...
Rian Craig Johnson (born December 17, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with the neo-noir mystery film Brick (2005), which received positive reviews and grossed nearly $4 million on a $450,000 budget. Going on to make higher-profile films, Johnson achieved mainstream reco...
