One of the biggest suprises at Sundance this year hasn't been a breakthrough performance or a hot new director; it's been the lackluster sales. That is, until Hamlet 2, arguably the most anticipated of this year's crop, which sold to Focus Features for a near-record $10 million.

Director Andrew Fleming's comedy centers on a failed actor (Steve Coogan) who takes a job as a high school drama teacher and stages an original production of Hamlet 2, a sequel to Shakespeare's classic tragedy. Driving the buzz for this film is not only the leading man, who has been dubbed a British Will Ferrell, but also an all-star cast that includes David Arquette, Catherine Keener and Elisabeth Shue.

How does a movie about a Hamlet sequel keep matters light? "It's a happy version," Coogan told Entertainment Weekly during an interview with the cast. "[My character] figures that the original Hamlet--Hamlet 1--it's a bit depressing when everyone dies at the end. So he wants to do a more uplifting, positive, Hollywood version."

"Jesus is in it," Elisabeth Shue offered as explanation. "He comes in a time machine."

Shue tackled the daunting role of playing herself in the film: "I've quit the business and I've gone to Tuscon, Arizona to become a nurse," the actress said. "It was definitely a version of myself...I felt like I understood the version I was supposed to play once [Steve Coogan] started to react to me."

The film, and its Sundance success, falls in line with what Robert Redford predicted for the festival this year--directors turning away from dark dramas and churning out lighter fare. As Coogan explained, "Ours is a film that makes you laugh. It's not a film that makes you think. But if you want to think, you can. It's a kind of optional-thinking movie. You don't have to think too much."