Test<\/a>,\u201d the award-winning gay bodybuilding drama from director Sam McConnell, has been acquired by Dark Star Pictures for U.S. and Canadian distribution. <\/p>\n\n\tWritten by and starring Brock Yurich (\u201cGoat\u201d), the film also features Tammy Blanchard (\u201cInto the Woods\u201d), Matthew Morrison (\u201cGlee\u201d), Paloma Garcia-Lee (\u201cWest Side Story\u201d), Evan Hall (\u201cOrange Is the New Black\u201d) and Mike Edward (\u201cM3GAN 2.0\u201d).<\/p>\n
\n\tThe film had its world premiere at SXSW London earlier this year and has since garnered numerous accolades on the international and domestic festival circuit.<\/p>\n
\n\tSet against the competitive world of amateur bodybuilding, \u201cTest\u201d follows Eddie (Yurich), a closeted young man from small-town Ohio who dreams of achieving physical perfection and pursuing a career in bodybuilding. Living with his emotionally demanding, devoutly religious mother (Blanchard) and earning money as a cam model, Eddie channels his frustrations and desires into an obsessive devotion to his body. When he begins training under a renowned coach and rekindles an old romance, his future appears promising. But as he navigates an unexpected queer awakening, the pressures of competition, religious guilt and the dangerous world of performance-enhancing drugs threaten to unravel everything he\u2019s worked toward.<\/p>\n
\n\tFollowing its world premiere at SXSW London, \u201cTest\u201d has enjoyed an acclaimed festival run, with screenings at Provincetown International Film Festival, Frameline, Outfest Los Angeles and Deauville American Film Festival. The film earned the Audience Award for best narrative feature at Provincetown, the Jury Award for outstanding first narrative feature at Frameline, the Emerging Narrative Feature Award at Queer Screen in Sydney and the Canal+ Jury Prize at Deauville.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cTest\u201d will next screen at NewFest in New York City on Oct. 21.<\/p>\n
\n\tWritten by Yurich in his feature screenwriting debut, \u201cTest\u201d is a production of Tandem Pictures and Hardball Entertainment, produced by Julie Christeas, Daryl Freimark and Yurich, with Jim McCauley, McConnell and Derek Strum serving as executive producers.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201c\u2018Test\u2019 is a bold and compelling film that offers a fresh perspective on the traditional sports drama,\u201d said Michael Repsch, president of Dark Star Pictures. \u201cSam McConnell has crafted a powerful story about identity, ambition and the pressures of living up to expectations, anchored by outstanding performances from Brock Yurich and Tammy Blanchard. We\u2019re thrilled to bring this film to audiences across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMcConnell said, \u201c\u2018Test\u2019 is a film about finding the strength to be your true self and recognizing your own worth \u2014 themes that resonate deeply with me and make this story especially meaningful. Sharing the film with audiences at festivals around the world has been the most rewarding experience of my career, and I\u2019m thrilled to partner with Dark Star Pictures, whose belief in \u2018Test\u2019 and commitment to a robust theatrical release will allow even more audiences to discover the film as we intended \u2014 on the big screen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDark Star is planning a 2027 theatrical release.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe deal was negotiated by Repsch and Bill Straus of Bridge Independent on behalf of the filmmakers.<\/p>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cTest,\u201d the award-winning gay bodybuilding drama from director Sam McConnell, has been acquired by Dark Star Pictures for U.S. and Canadian distribution. Written by and starring Brock Yurich (\u201cGoat\u201d), the film also features Tammy Blanchard (\u201cInto the Woods\u201d), Matthew Morrison (\u201cGlee\u201d), Paloma Garcia-Lee (\u201cWest Side Story\u201d), Evan Hall (\u201cOrange Is the New Black\u201d) and Mike […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
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Written by and starring Brock Yurich (\u201cGoat\u201d), the film also features Tammy Blanchard (\u201cInto the Woods\u201d), Matthew Morrison (\u201cGlee\u201d), Paloma Garcia-Lee (\u201cWest Side Story\u201d), Evan Hall (\u201cOrange Is the New Black\u201d) and Mike […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=32384\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-23T03:08:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=32384#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=32384\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"World Bodybuilding News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d84bf475351cac13351c44d62b00dcd2\"},\"headline\":\"Queer Bodybuilder Drama ‘Test’ Acquired by Dark Star Pictures\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-23T03:08:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=32384\"},\"wordCount\":498,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=32384#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Test_Still2-1000.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=32384#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=32384\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=32384\",\"name\":\"Queer Bodybuilder Drama 'Test' Acquired by Dark Star Pictures - 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