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Perfect ‘Ten’ for Thinkfilm
The ensemble piece had its Sundance premiere in the first weekend of the fest, while the indie heavyweights balked, ThinkFilm and City Lights Home Entertainment have partnered to purchase the pic for over 4 million. Vareity reports that ThinkFilm will handle theatrical distribution and City Lights will handle DVD and digital distribution through its partnership with Warner Music Group's WEA Corp. Both companies will share revenue from all distribution venues.
First Look buys pic fit for a ‘King’
As part of a serious refocus in acquistions, the folks at First Look picked up one more Sundance selection. Michael Cahill’s directorial and screenwriting debut was produced by Alexander Payne, Michael London, Avi Lerner and Randall Emmett.
Magnolia smokes out ‘Signal’
Imagine premiering your film for the first time in front of audiences (that happen to include buyers) and having the door blocked off after the screening. This is what seems to have happened in the case of writers-directors David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush. Magnolia Pictures bought the North American, Aussie and U.K. rights to the film for close to 2 million.
Vantage is Sly in film deal
Last year’s most expensive pick up in Park City was the crowd pleasing Little Miss Sunshine – this year another crowd pleaser was the center of a bidding war. This year a film pegged as a "Millions" meets "Billy Elliott" was given the biggest paycheck of them all. Paramount Vantage beat out rivals for worldwide distribution (excluding 3 countries) for Son of Rambow.
Weinstein & Searchlight are living ‘La Misma Luna’
Add a new name to the list of Mexican filmmakers that will leave a filmic imprint stateside. Featured in the Spectrum section at Sundance, worldwide rights to La Misma Luna (The Same Moon) was picked up for a cool $5 million-$6 million. Searchlight will take the lead in the Americas, while the two companies will pick and choose which will handle international territories on a case-by-case basis.
