Sundance Horror ‘The Ugly Stepsister’ Sells Wide for Memento (EXCLUSIVE)

“The Ugly Stepsister” — the Cinderella-inspired horror that emerged from Sundance as one of the festival’s buzziest titles — has sold worldwide for Memento International.

From director Emilie Blichfeldt and a beauty-horror reimagining of the classic fairy tale — the film already sold to Shudder for North America, the U.K. and Australia-New Zealand before it’s world premiere in Park City, while Mer Film and Scanbox will release it in Scandinavia.

The film has also now sold to ESC FIlms (France), Capelight (Germany and Austria), Beta Films (Spain), Lev Cinema (Israel), ADS (Hungary), Cay Films (Romania), Cine Canibal (Latin America), New Select (Japan), House of M (Thailand), PT Falcon (Indonesia), Estin Film (Baltics) and Vendetta Filmes (Portugal). Negotiations are reportedly ongoing in Italy, Greece and Ukraine, among others.

“The Ugly Stepsister” follows Elvira as she prepares to earn the prince’s affection at any cost. In a kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira will compete with the beautiful and enchanting Agnes to become the belle of the ball. Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Naess and Ane Dahl Torp star.

The film is produced by Maria Ekerhovd in Norway for Mer Film (“The Innocents,” “War Sailor,” Joachim Trier’s upcoming feature “Sentimental Value”). It is co-produced by Lizette Jonjic for Zentropa Sweden (“Another Round”), Mariusz Włodarski for Poland’s Lava Films (“The Girl with The Needle,” “Sweat”), Theis Nørgaard for Denmark’s Motor (“The Dead Don’t Hurt”), Zefyr and Film i Väst. With support from the Norwegian Film Institute, the Polish Production Incentive and the Polish Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute, the Danish Film Institute, Eurimages, DR, Nordisk Film & Tv Fond.

“The Ugly Stepsister” is set to continue its festival circuit with a European premiere in the Panorama section of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2025.

Memento’s 20th-anniversary slate also includes Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner “Atropia,” Berlin Panorama feature “Dreams in Nightmares” directed by Shatara Michelle Ford, Berlinale Special film “Ancestral Visions of the Future” directed by Lemohang Mosese and Haifaa Al-Mansour’s crime thriller “Unidentified.”