Chess Documentary ‘Grandmasters’ Acquired By Good Deed Entertainment

EXCLUSIVE: Good Deed Entertainment has acquired Grandmasters, a documentary from award-winning filmmaker Liza Mandelup that uncovers drama roiling the world of top-tier chess.

Grandmasters premiered as a documentary series at Tribeca Festival in June but will launch in theaters as a nonfiction feature told in three chapters. Good Deed plans to release the film nationwide on October 11 at AMC locations.

“In Grandmasters, the once esoteric and uninspired world of top-level competitive chess is thrown into turmoil when an eccentric German entrepreneur enlists Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen to launch a new league that aims to revolutionize the game, challenge the sport’s governing body, and ‘make chess cool,’” notes a synopsis. “Expertly helmed by Mandelup (Jawline, Caterpillar), with access and support provided by Chess.com, the documentary chronicles the rivalries, reinventions, and personal battles shaping the modern pursuit of greatness in the game of kings.”

In a statement, Mandelup said, “I’m constantly drawn to people who have built their lives around a single pursuit, so getting to spend time with some of the best chess players in the world was immediately exciting to me. What I didn’t expect was how much drama sat just beneath the surface. I wanted to get beyond the idea of a chess genius and make something funny, intimate, and deeply human about the people behind the game.”

Good Deed released Mandelup’s documentary Caterpillar in theaters last November.

“Liza has a gift for bringing audiences inside a story, and the beautifully executed Grandmasters opens up the world of chess in a way audiences haven’t seen before,” commented Erik Donley, head of acquisitions and distribution at Good Deed Entertainment. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Liza once again on another culturally captivating story.”

Chess has proved fertile ground for fictional exploration on screen, to whit the hit Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit (2020); Pawn Sacrifice, starring Tobey Maguire and Liev Schreiber (2014); The Luzhin Defence (2000), and Searching for Bobby Fischer, starring Ben Kingsley, Laurence Fishburne, Joan Allen and more (1993). Mandelup’s film explores the real thing.

“We have been living in the drama of top-level chess for decades, and knew that the outside world had only seen a very small portion of it,” observed Danny Rensch, co-founder and Chief Chess Officer of Chess.com. “The story of these players is so much bigger than the board, and Good Deed understood that immediately. Now we get to share it as widely as it deserves.”

Grandmasters is a Boardwalk Pictures production, starring Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So, Jan Henric Buettner, Hans Niemann, Danny Rensch, Levy Rozman, and Lotis Key. In addition to directing the film, Mandelup executive produced the project alongside Jordan Wynn, Andrew Fried, Lana Barkin, Patrick Altema, and Alex Leibow. The film is produced by Max McGillivray and Christian Vazquez.

Good Deed Entertainment is an independent film studio “built around distinctive voices and underserved audiences.” Recent releases include Looking Through Water (Michael Douglas) and Drive Back Home (Alan Cumming), alongside a catalog of acclaimed films such as Lucky Grandma, To Dust, and the Academy Award nominee Loving Vincent.