Golden Globes: ‘Club Kid’ Submitted as Drama (Exclusive)

Club Kid, Jordan Firstman’s acclaimed film about a club promoter who stays too long at the party, has been submitted by distributor A24 for Golden Globes consideration as a drama, rather than a musical/comedy, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.

This classification means that the film — which Firstman wrote, directed (as his feature directorial debut) and stars in — will compete in the genre-specific Globes categories (picture, actor and actress) against the likes of The Odyssey, La Bola Negra, Dune: Part Three, Elsinore, All of a Sudden, Fjord, I Play Rocky and Possible Love, rather than Wild Horse Nine, The Invite, The Debut, Artificial, Obsession, Project Hail Mary and Tender Loving Care.

A24’s decision, which was made in close consultation with Firstman, may come as a surprise to some given Firstman’s background in comedy and the fact that some have described Club Kid as an elevated variation of Big Daddy, the 1999 Adam Sandler comedy about a man who unexpectedly becomes the guardian of a young child.

But Club Kid becomes considerably more dramatic as it progresses, and Firstman — who shines in a decidedly dramatic courtroom scene late in the film — has cited heavier films like 1978’s An Unmarried Woman and 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer as key inspirations.

Club Kid had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, after which it received a seven-minute standing ovation and sparked an overnight bidding war among distributors. The film ultimately sold to A24 for $17 million, making it the biggest sale of the fest. It has since played to raves at the Telluride, Toronto, New York and other film fests. And it will begin a platform theatrical release on Friday.

THR recently broke the news of two other high-profile Globes categorizations: Obsession as a musical/comedy and Artificial as a musical/comedy.