Gabrielle Union from 'The Birth of a Nation' appears during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, in Park City, Utah. Union's film was bought by Fox Searchlight Pictures for a reported $17.5 million. (Associated Press)
Fox Searchlight Pictures won a bidding war at the Sundance Film Festival for 'The Birth of a Nation,' paying a record-setting $17.5 million for the film's worldwide distribution rights.
The studio announced the deal Tuesday after the film premiered to a standing ovation a day earlier.
It tells the true story of Nat Turner, a slave who taught himself to read and became a preacher before ultimately leading a deadly rebellion that wiped out 60 slave owners.
Fox Searchlight did not disclose the amount of its winning bid, reported to be $17.5 million. Past high-priced titles such as 2013's 'The Way, Way Back' and 2006's 'Little Miss Sunshine' topped out in the $10-12 million range.
Writer, director, producer and star Nate Parker spent seven years making the film he described as a passion project he hopes will serve as a 'healing mechanism for America.'
Fox Searchlight says it will release 'The Birth of a Nation' later this year.