Blumhouse and Prime Video have secured worldwide rights for horror-drama NANNY from first-time feature writer/director Nikyatu Jusu. NANNY premiered at Sundance this year in the U.S. Dramatic Competition to rave reviews and won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, the first horror film to take the festival’s top honor.

Critical praise for NANNY included the New York Times, which praised the film as a ” standout…for both its visceral shocks and its lush beauty,” and Anna Diop’s performance as “remarkable” while Variety highlighted Jusu’s “confident” directing. Amy Taubin for Artforum states, “In the twenty-three years I’ve gone to Sundance, I’ve seen perhaps a half dozen first fiction features by artists who have the intelligence, skill, and sense of form to create a movie that is revelatory from first to last. Nanny is one of them.”

The acquisition of NANNY by Prime Video and Blumhouse Television continues the successful collaboration between the two companies that was forged in 2019, to release genre films under the banner Welcome to the Blumhouse in 2020 and 2021. The film was acquired from Topic Studios, Stay Gold Features and LinLay Productions.

“We’re proud to have writer/director Nikyatu Jusu’s Nanny as part of our slate for Amazon. It’s a gem of a horror film that combines impressive filmmaking and powerful storytelling, and is worthy of the Grand Jury Prize it was awarded at Sundance,” said Jason Blum, founder and CEO, Blumhouse.

“With Nanny, Nikaytu Jusu has crafted a film that is as haunting as it is powerful,” said Julie Rapaport, head of movies at Amazon Studios. “From the exceptional performances to its strong visual language, we can’t wait to share Nanny with our global audience and to continue our longstanding collaboration with Blumhouse.”

“Knowing my first feature, Nanny, is now among a roster of provocative and iconic work at Amazon is rewarding. Coupled with Blumhouse’s recognizability in the world of genre, horror specifically, I’m excited to be in the warm embrace of a team at the intersection of bold content and indie filmmaking sensibilities. My hope is that this acquisition stands as a testament to their continued bravery in ushering in unique voices,” said Nikyatu Jusu.

“Nikyatu is an immensely talented and visionary director whose haunting, unforgettable film mesmerized audiences at Sundance. We couldn’t imagine better partners to now share Nanny with the world than the exceptional teams at Blumhouse and Amazon,” said Maria Zuckerman of Topic Studios and Daniela Taplin Lundberg of Stay Gold Features.

“Nikyatu is a singular filmmaker, and supporting her on her debut feature has been rewarding. From building a truly multicultural team behind the camera, to linking arms with Blumhouse and Amazon, it’s been amazing,” said Grace Lay and Sumalee Montano of LinLay Productions, and Nikkia Moulterie.

NANNY stars Anna Diop (Us) as a Senegalese immigrant nanny, piecing together a new life in New York City while caring for the child of an Upper East Side family, who is forced to confront a concealed truth that threatens to shatter her American Dream. Michelle Monaghan (The Craft: Legacy, Gone Baby Gone), Sinqua Walls (The 15:17 to Paris, Resort to Love), Morgan Spector (“The Gilded Age”), and Rose Decker (“Mare of Easttown”) also star.

Jusu, who recently won the 2022 Inaugural Motion Pictures Association Creator Award and was named one of Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch,” has her next project set up with Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw and Universal. Prior to directing Nanny, Jusu’s short film Suicide by Sunlight was nominated for a 2019 Sundance Grand Jury Short Film award. While a student at New York University’s Tisch Graduate Film school where she was a recipient of the Spike Lee Fellowship award and the Princess Grace Narrative Film Award, Jusu won a DGA Student Film Award – Jury Prize, Best African American Student Filmmaker – East Region for her short film Say Grace Before Drowning (2010) and DGA Student Film Award – Honorable Mention, Best African American Student Filmmaker – East Coast for her short African Booty Scratcher (2007).

Behind the camera, NANNY hails from a strong female filmmaking team led by Jusu, including cinematographer Rina Yang (“Euphoria”) lensing her first narrative feature; producers Nikkia Moulterie (Suicide by Sunlight) and Daniela Taplin Lundberg of Stay Gold Features (Harriet); and executive producers Maria Zuckerman (Spencer) of Topic Studios, and Grace Lay and Sumalee Montano of LinLay Productions (Riotsville, U.S.A.).

NANNY is also executive produced by Nikyatu Jusu; Ryan Heller and Michael Bloom for Topic Studios; Rebecca Cammarata for Stay Gold Features; and Jason Blum, Chris McCumber and Jeremy Gold for Blumhouse Television.

Jusu is represented by M88, CAA, and Granderson Des Rochers. The deal was negotiated by CAA Media Finance.