Netflix’s ‘Pee-wee’s Big Holiday’ Will Make Its World Premiere At SXSW

Attendees at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin will be the first to see one of Netflix’s upcoming original films. The streaming video service will give Pee-wee’s Big Holiday its worldwide premiere at SXSW’s annual nine-day film festival in March 2016.

Written by Paul Rust and comedian Paul Reubens, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday is based on the popular fictional character Pee-wee Herman created by Reubens in the late 1980s for a stage performance. The Netflix feature film finds Pee-wee meeting a stranger who convinces the child-like adult to take his first-ever holiday. Judd Apatow executive produces Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, while John Lee directs.

Back in December 2014, a Netflix spokesperson said the streaming service was near to closing a distribution deal for Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, which had originally been set up at Universal Pictures. Two months later, Netflix confirmed it would be the exclusive release platform for the Pee-wee Herman flick, with CCO Ted Sarandos saying his company “didn’t hesitate for a moment” to pick up the passion project from Apatow and Reubens. Fans haven’t been treated to many more updates since then, except for an Instagram picture of Reubens with co-star Joe Mangeniello on set in April 2015.

Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, which still doesn’t have an official Netflix release date, will debut at SXSW from March 11-19. The festival will announce an official date and time for the film’s world premiere once programming has been finalized.