EXCLUSIVE: Meghan Markle's New Movie is 'Struggling' for One 'Really Awful' Reason
It's more bad news for Meghan Markle.
Feb. 13 2026, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
Meghan Markle is facing what sources have told RadarOnline.com is yet another "content embarrassment" for the duchess, after her new documentary Cookie Queens debuted to applause at Sundance – but has yet to secure a distributor in what its director calls a “really awful” market.
Markle, 44, and her husband, Prince Harry, 41, attended the film’s January 25 premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where they are credited as executive producers through Archewell Productions.
'The Market Is Really Awful Right Now'
Markle introduced director Alysa Nahmias before the early screening.
The documentary, directed by Alysa Nahmias, follows four Girl Scouts as they bake and sell cookies. Despite a reported standing ovation inside the theater, there has been no public confirmation of a distribution deal.
The International Documentary Association noted while a handful of nonfiction titles arrived at the festival with distribution in place, "not a single reported acquisition deal" had been announced for the majority still seeking buyers.
Speaking to the International Documentary Association, Nahmias was candid about the broader industry climate.
She said: "The market is really awful right now, and it's been so hard for so many of us. We can choose to feel powerless – or maybe we are powerless – but I do want to believe that things can change."
Her comments have fueled speculation about the film's commercial prospects.
Meghan Markle's 'Awkward' Realization
Markle has been praised the film as powerful and meaningful.
A source familiar with the production said, "There was genuine warmth in the room at Sundance, and the response from the audience was heartfelt. But applause does not automatically translate into acquisition."
The insider added, "The documentary space is brutally competitive at the moment. Buyers are cautious, streamers are consolidating, and even projects with high-profile backers are finding it difficult to close deals."
Another industry source was more brutal.
"For Meghan, this is awkward," they noted. "She has positioned herself as a serious player in the content world. When a film premieres with fanfare but struggles to land a distributor, it inevitably raises questions. Fair or not, it becomes another narrative about projects not quite breaking through.
"This looks like it may end up being yet another content disaster and embarrassment for Meghan."
No distributor has secured the film after its premiere.
Inside the theater that showed the cookie film, Markle introduced Nahmias ahead of an early-morning screening.
She said: "Yes, it's probably the cutest film at the festival. But I'm also going to go out on a limb and say it's one of the most powerful and meaningful depictions of an American tradition."
Markle described the documentary as taking "something that is rooted in nostalgia" and re-examining it through Nahmias' creative lens to present a modern view of "the girlhood experience."
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Archewell partnered with Beautiful Stories and AJNA Films on the project.
The project carries personal resonance for Markle, who grew up in California as a Girl Scout, with her mother, Doria Ragland, serving as her troop leader.
Archewell partnered with Beautiful Stories and AJNA Films on the production, positioning it as part of the couple's broader slate of socially conscious programming.
Still, the absence of a confirmed buyer has prompted debate about the viability of star-backed documentaries in a tightening market.
An executive with knowledge of festival negotiations said, "There is enormous goodwill around Sundance, but the economics are challenging. Even films with recognizable names attached are not immune to the realities of supply and demand."
For now, Cookie Queens remains without a publicly announced distribution partner – its future dependent on whether the "really awful" market Nahmias described begins to shift in the months ahead.
