Something to keep our eye on in the coming days: whether Cookie Queens gets bought or gets a distributor at Sundance. I’ve been looking around and I can’t find anything about it, which is very odd. Last weekend, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the Sundance Film Festival. Prince Harry and Meghan turned up to at least two events for Cookie Queens, and Meghan spoke to all of the trade papers (Deadline, Hollywood Reporter and Variety) to promote the documentary about Girl Scouts selling cookies. Every Sundance review of Cookie Queens has been great, and many festival-goers have called it one of the best films of this year’s festival. But there have been no reports of the doc being bought. The Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential newsletter slid this little item in:
Meanwhile, Prince Harry was trying to sell a documentary that he produced with his wife, Meghan, at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. The streaming giant Netflix, which has a ‘first-look’ deal with the couple, is said to have turned down the film, Cookie Queens, about Girl Scouts.
This has not been confirmed anywhere else. Of course, no sale or distributor has been confirmed whatsoever. My guess is that the Mail is assuming that Netflix passed because something something Harry and Meghan’s first-look deal! While H&M are executive producers, it was probably the director’s call to take this to Sundance and see the reaction.
Additionally, the Express is crying about Harry and Meghan “using their titles” for their producer credits on the documentary. They’re apparently listed as “Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex” in the credits. OMG, you mean they used their f–king names? How dare they!!
And the award for cutest documentary of Sundance 2026 goes to COOKIE QUEENS. This adorable behind-the-scenes look at four ambitious young girls striving to become top-selling “Cookie Queens” is lighthearted and endlessly charming. It doesn’t venture into dark territory or uncover… pic.twitter.com/GA12CIhCc7
— Matt Neglia @Sundance (@NextBestPicture) January 29, 2026
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- Park City, UT Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were spotted arriving at the screening of the movie “Cookie Queens” during Sundance 2026, in Park City, Utah. Pictured: Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 25 JANUARY 2026 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Park City, UT Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were spotted arriving at the screening of the movie “Cookie Queens” during Sundance 2026, in Park City, Utah. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 25 JANUARY 2026 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Park City, UT Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were spotted arriving at the screening of the movie “Cookie Queens” during Sundance 2026, in Park City, Utah. Pictured: Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 25 JANUARY 2026 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Park City, UT Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were spotted arriving at the screening of the movie “Cookie Queens” during Sundance 2026, in Park City, Utah. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 25 JANUARY 2026 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Park City, UT Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were spotted arriving at the screening of the movie “Cookie Queens” during Sundance 2026, in Park City, Utah. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 25 JANUARY 2026 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Cookie Queens would the a good fit for National Geographic channel. Their streaming has a lot of documentaries
I read somewhere a couple of days ago that ‘Cookie Queens has spawned a high-altitude bake-off with multiple buyers including Netflix and HBO’. Which, of course, is perfectly possible, even with a first look deal. And something about WME fielding bids.
I think it would be nice for this project to end up on another platform other than Netflix. I think it was good to see H&M out there hustling for their project, which they don’t seem to do outside of WLM and even that was really for the first season. Giving quotes and short interviews to the trades really gave this project a lot of media attention and helped with the positive coverage. With another distributor they might keep up this same energy.
I was thinking it would be a good fit for Disney.
Pure speculation by the gutter rats. It’s what they are hoping for and nothing else. I thought the Sussexes were so irrelevant to them but you would never know that by all the press they get from them.
I’ve come to think of the gutter rats and the rest of that crew as MAGA-UK edition.
I haven’t grasped from the coverage if the target audience this movie is for adults or children , or both? Is it supposed to be cute family fare that you go see with your own Girl Scout? I mean maybe that makes a difference in the marketability and where it will end up. I don’t have kids, was never a Scout, and I just cannot see myself sitting through a whole movie about children selling cookies, maybe if it was a 15 minute short feature but it sounded like it’s a whole movie length?
Probably both, and people who are just interested in documentaries in general. I never played baseball, and actually find the sport pretty boring to watch but I loved Ken Burns’ documentary on the history of it. So probably have a pill for people that were girl scouts, people who just want to know the intricacies behind it, people who love girl scout cookies, and people who just like overcoming adversity types of stories.
It’s about an hour and half long. The reviews seem very good and I’d say it’s for both adults and children, since the parents and families of the girls are involved. To me, it’s doesn’t look much different from the reality programs people are willing to sit through and follow. Four girls from different parts of the country, with different family dynamics, with different reasons to want to be top seller – will they make , won’t they, that sort of thing.
I believe it is for a variety of people from kids to adults. Some be scouts now or have been in the past, some may just enjoy the cookies and be interested is seeing the other side of things. Also in her interview Meghan mentioned how it relates to individuals setting goals, making plans to achieve them and having support along the way, so it can certainly apply to things beyond Girl Scout cookies.
I’m sure it’ll get picked up. It’s a pretty appealing topic, and seems to have garnered a lot of interest. This is just another example of anything Harry and Meghan doing having to break records, and achieve feats that no one else has ever achieved timewise or success wise, or they are complete and utter failures.
Doesn’t it take a couple of days or weeks to negotiate a deal like this?
It seemed well-regarded coming out of Sundance so I imagine it’ll land somewhere. This seems like a jumping to conclusion assumption.
They got a Sundance Institute grant to make it – I think that includes assistance in distribution. And the Artemis Rising Foundation is one of the producers. Regina Kelly has produced hundreds of documentaries, so there are plenty of connections for getting a distributor.
Oh, cool, interesting. Yeah, I think there’s very little chance of this movie not getting picked up. It also has a built in audience bc I can totally see Girl Scout troops all over the country watching it together which is cute to think about.
Well they do have a first look deal now. Is the DM going to say that Harry and Meghan are failures if this movie goes to another streamer?
God himself/herself could pick this documentary up and yes the gutter rats would still call it a failure.
I have very recently come to the idea that God’s pronoun is closer to “them” than “him/her”. The Bible may be God’s word, but it’s interpreted through men’s minds.
As God is 3 in 1, (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit) then it makes sense his pronouns would be “them”……yes, I was playing when I started thinking about it…but then it started to make more and more sense to me! Language evolves, we know that. Well, why can’t God language evolve too? Am I crazy?
Yes, they absolutely will! If it goes to another streaming service, it’ll be reported that Netflix “snubbed” them or is tired of them. Heck, if Netflix does agree, it will be reported that Netflix reluctantly agreed and this is the Sussexees’ “last chance”. Had Netflix immediately and publicly bought it, they would have had something nasty to say about that too, no doubt.
I feel like there are fewer deals coming out of Sundance generally – the huge bidding wars between the big studios seem to be a thing of the past.
My guess is that all is done and sealed. It will be announced when the right time comes. This is how they work.
Personally I do not care who picks this film up. I love documentaries. I have seen so many and learned so much from them. I find them enjoyable. Looking forward to watching Cookie Queens wherever it lands.
I’m sure it will get picked up – even if Netflix decided it wasnt for them. there are so many streaming platforms for these types of things now. I can see disney plus being a good fit for it.
Industry papers know the details of what sold or didn’t at Sundance. The Mail has no idea.
And with the positive reviews, there will definitely be interest in this one.
I thought the deal was that Meghan and Harry couldn’t use their HRH in their business dealings, not that they couldn’t use the Duke and Duchess titles.
It was and the British press know this. They just take every opportunity to lie and attack the Sussexes in any day ending in ‘y’.
Correct. QEII gave her blessing for ‘the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’ to ‘earn an income and pursue their own charitable interests’. Their legally retained HRHs are ‘styles’, not titles, btw. And they don’t use them for business purposes or publicly.
Of course the gutter rats don’t think the film will be picked up. The gutter rats have no understanding of a film that helps build up young girls. The gutter rats only understand tearing people down.
I selfishly want it to be on Netflix, because we have a subscription.
Why would they be shopping for a distributor if Netflix didn’t pass since they have ‘first look’ rights? Maybe I misunderstand what first look means.
First look means “first right of refusal” – H&M would bring a new project to Netflix first and then Netflix would have the right to accept it for production or not. But I’m not sure of the timeline of Cookie Queens and whether it even falls under H&M’s Netflix deal. A lot of other producers are involved as well as the Sundance Institute. It might be that H&M are free to be involved in other peoples’ productions without involving their Netflix contract.
I like that blue coat on her. Her face and nose look broader than usual, likely from pulling her hair away from her face so tightly. It’s a nice look, but different.