Theater-Themed Titles THE MUSICAL and RUN AMOK Set World Premieres at Sundance

Sundance has announced the film lineup for the 2026 festival, which features theater titles The Musical and Run Amok, both of which will compete in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category. 

First up is the world premiere of The Musical, a dark comedy starring Tony winner Will Brill, Rob Lowe, and Gillian Jacobs. The movie follows a frustrated playwright and middle school drama teacher (Brill), who plots revenge on his school's principal (Lowe) after he discovers he is dating his ex-girlfriend (Jacobs). To keep the principal from winning the coveted blue ribbon of academic excellence, he attempts to bring to life an extremely inappropriate musical on the school's stage.

The Musical is helmed by Giselle Bonilla, who directs from a screenplay written by Alexander Heller. The pair previously produced a short film version of the story. In addition to its in-person screening, the movie will also be available online for the public.

Sundance will also see the world premiere of Run Amok, another dark comedy set at a high school. Previously under the title Thoughts and Prayers, the movie is the debut feature film from writer-director Nitzan Bachar “NB” Mager, and tells the story of a teenage girl who stages a musical reenactment of a tragedy that took place at her high school 10 years ago. The cast includes Alyssa Marvin, Patrick Wilson, Margaret Cho, Sophia Torres, Elizabeth Marvel, and Molly Ringwald.

Other notable titles at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival include Cathy Yan's The Gallerist, Gregg Araki's I Want Your Sex, Olivia Wilde's The Invite and more. Check out the full lineup here. 

The Festival will be held from January 22–February 1, 2026, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, with the at-home program available online from January 29–February 1, 2026, for audiences across the country. Single Film Tickets for in-person and online screenings go on sale January 14 at 10 a.m. MT and limited quantities of select passes and packages remain on sale. 

From January 29–February 1, audiences nationwide can view a curated program online at festival.sundance.org that will include all competition titles (U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic, World Cinema Documentary, and NEXT presented by Adobe) as well as additional selections from the feature and episodic programs and the Short Film Program.