The Polka King

The Polka King
Film poster
Directed byMaya Forbes
Screenplay byMaya Forbes
Wallace Wolodarsky
Based onThe Man Who Would Be Polka King
by Joshua Brown and John Mikulak
Produced byJack Black
Stuart Cornfeld
Monica Levinson
Priyanka Mattoo
David Permut
Shivani Rawat
Wallace Wolodarsky
StarringJack Black
Jenny Slate
Jason Schwartzman
J. B. Smoove
Vanessa Bayer
Jacki Weaver
CinematographyAndrei Bowden-Schwartz
Edited byCatherine Haight
Music byTheodore Shapiro
Alex Meixner
Production
companies
ShivHans Pictures
Red Hour Productions
Permut Presentations
Electric Dynamite
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • January 22, 2017 (2017-01-22) (Sundance)
  • January 12, 2018 (2018-01-12) (Worldwide)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Polka King is a 2017 American biographical comedy film directed by Maya Forbes and written by Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky. The film is about real-life Polish-American polka band leader Jan Lewan, who was imprisoned in 2004 for running a Ponzi scheme. The film stars Jack Black as Lewan, as well as Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, and Jacki Weaver. It premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2017.[1] It was released on Netflix on January 12, 2018.[2]

The Polka King is based on a 2009 documentary about Lewan, The Man Who Would Be Polka King, directed by Joshua Brown and John Mikulak.[3]

  1. ^ Patten, Dominic (December 5, 2016). "Sundance 2017: Robert Redford, New Rashida Jones Netflix Series, 'Rebel In The Rye' & More On Premiere, Docu, Midnight & Kids Slates". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  2. ^ "January premieres on Netflix". Screencrush. Archived from the original on 2017-12-13. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  3. ^ Jaafar, Ali (March 10, 2016). "Jack Black To Star In And Produce Jan Lewan Biopic 'The Man Who Would Be Polka King'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2016.