I Saw the TV Glow: A24 Releases Trailer for Creepy Sundance Hit

I Saw the TV Glow has a brand-new trailer after that buzzy Sundance Film Festival debut. Director Jane Schoenbrun is back on May 3rd with a trippy take on nostalgia and the existential dread of the suburbs with I Saw the TV Glow. A24 teased a trailer for the Letterboxd favorite yesterday and now fans who didn’t make it all the way to the film festival are reacting to their first big look at the horror film. I Saw the TV Glow stars Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine as Owen and Maddy. They are two kids united in their love for a show called The Pink Opaque. Shared interest in the weird little program gives way to a bit of deeper understanding.

However, things are getting stranger in the suburbs as Maddy mysteriously disappears one day. All the authorities manage to find is her burning TV set in her backyard. When Owen reencounters the past, he begins to suspect that maybe The Pink Opaque wasn’t really just a show they watched as kids. Other stars in this one include Ian Foreman, Helena Howard, Danielle Deadwyler, and Fred Durst. I Saw the TV Glow is written by Jane Scoenbrun. The movie is produced by Emma Stone, Ali Herting, Dave McCary, Sam Intili, and Sarah Winshall.

A24 and I Saw The TV Glow 

For a lot of Sundance attendees, I Saw the TV Glow was pretty radical. Scheonbrun wanted it that way. The director talked to Collider about the idea of A24 movies as subversive and how they might stand out from big studios. For the filmmaker, the freedom to make exactly what they want on the screen really stood out.

“I just think that A24 has managed to brand themselves as the place where, at least in America, you’re going to see something that you don’t expect,” Schoenbrun mused. “You’re gonna see something that’s defined by its difference from the mainstream. I think it’s become colloquial in Hollywood, right? Where people are sort of like, ‘I want to be in an A24-type movie.’” 

“And so, that kind of power of the quote-unquote brand signifying something new or something different or something a little bit transgressive, is obviously really exciting when you’re an artist trying to do exactly that,” they continued. “So, after my first film, which again was a very microbudget, very small film, did pretty well here at Sundance a few years ago, I knew that the dream come true would be getting to make my sophomore feature with a company like A24.”

A24 Moving To More Commercial Films

A recent report said that A24 is looking for more actions and “big IP projects” now. TheWrap wrote about A24’s Noah Sacco seeking out bigger movies and the company “deemphasizing the traditional character/auteur-driven dramas.” Luckily, there will still be some space for the movies that helped define the brand. But, that report points to profitability as the main driver behind this decision. One agent surveyed just didn’t think it was sustainable to make these smaller movies.

“On one hand, a large number of films being released means a larger library, which is obviously more attractive to prospective buyers,” the agent told that outlet. “On the other hand, too many films crowds the marketplace. But the bottom line is that auteur films don’t make any money and are super risky. It’s just not a good long-term strategy. They have to have a good balance of both.”

Will you be seeing I Saw the TV Glow? Let us know down in the comments!