We'll be talking about Me and Earl and the Dying Girl a lot. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's drama debuted at Sundance on Sunday and sparked a ferocious bidding war for the rights to distribute - with Fox Searchlight trying to hold off Lionsgate and Focus Features.

Nick OffermanNick Offerman stars in the critically acclaimed Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, which should sell for $12 million at Sundance

According to Deadline, the bidding has reached $12 million for the worldwide rights, which would overtake the previous Sundance sales record of $10 million, paid for Spitfire Girl, The Way Way Back, Little Miss Sunshine and Hamlet 2. 

Written by Jess Andrews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl stars Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton and Molly Shannon. It tells the story of Greg, a guy coasting through his senior year of high school, avoiding social interactions while making films with his only friend, Earl. The pair's relationship begins to unravel when Greg's mother forces him to befriend a classmate suffering from leukaemia. Tonally, it is being compared to The Fault in Our Stars, the breakout hit starring Shailene Woodley.

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"This rousing adaptation of Jesse Andrews' novel is destined not only to connect with young audiences in a big way, but to endure as a touchstone for its generation," Peter Debruge said of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl in his review for Variety.

"[A] film-geek friendly but thoroughly accessible and very funny," said John DeFore of the Hollywood Reporter adding that it "has the makings of a mainstream hit."

Other movies screening in competition at the Sundance Film Festival 2015 include comedy The D Train, starring Jack Black. It follows the head of a high school reunion committee who travels to Los Angeles to track down the most popular guy from his graduating class and convince him to go to the reunion.