Roadside Attractions and Vertical have teamed up to acquire the U.S. distribution rights to Babies, Lauren Miller Rogen’s upcoming comedy ahead of its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The deal marks the first U.S. acquisition of a world premiere from this year’s festival, which officially begins Sept. 10.
The distributors are eyeing a theatrical release for the film in 2027.
Babies stars Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick as a happily married couple whose decision not to have children is challenged when their divorced friend, played by Kate Berlant, and her young daughter move in with them. Surrounded by friends who are raising families, the couple is forced to reconsider one of the defining questions of modern adulthood: Should they become parents?
Written and directed by Lauren Miller Rogen, the heartfelt comedy explores the pressures, expectations and uncertainties surrounding parenthood while finding humor in the often complicated realities of adult life.
The film features an ensemble cast that includes Issa Rae (Insecure), Dan Stevens (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire), Zach Cherry (Severance), Ed Helms (The Hangover), Ashley Park (Emily in Paris), Sharon Stone and David Strathairn.
Babies will have its world premiere at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto on Sept. 12. The screening comes almost exactly one year after AGC and CAA began worldwide sales of the film during a distributor presentation at TIFF 2025.
Miller Rogen said the film was inspired by her own experiences and the complicated questions surrounding motherhood.
“Every woman I know has been asked around 1 billion times if they’re going to have children,” she said. “For some, the answer is obvious. For me, it was a lot more complicated.”
She described Babies as an exploration of the “funny, weird, and life-changing” experiences that ultimately shaped her own answer to that question, adding that she was thrilled to have Roadside Attractions and Vertical as partners in bringing the film to theaters.
Roadside Attractions Co-Presidents Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff, along with Vertical Chairman Rich Goldberg and CEO and Partner Peter Jarowey, praised Miller Rogen’s approach to the material.
“Lauren has made the kind of smart, perceptive comedy theatrical audiences rarely get anymore,” the companies said in a joint statement, describing the film as a modern Hollywood comedy that examines contemporary life.
They added that Babies captures a conversation taking place everywhere, using humor to explore the pressures and contradictions of modern adulthood. The distributors called the film “poignant, hilarious, deeply relatable” and praised its ensemble cast.
With its Toronto premiere approaching and a theatrical release planned for 2027, Babies is positioned as one of the festival’s notable new comedies.
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