Mazeltov! SPC Gets Hitched with Barney’s Version

In my TIFF 2010 Buyer’s Club feature, I mentioned that the studio who picks up this film would be one “who doesn’t mind pitching to a certain older cinephile demo and large segment of the population: divorced folk.” I guess I was dead on with my assessment of the kind of distributor who should get involved with Richard J. Lewis’ Barney’s Version, but I imagine not many folks knew that Robert Lantos was only going to hand the rights directly to Sony Pictures Classics. Michael Barker and Tom Bernard have now made it official: that the hot Canadian title, which has yet to premiere in Venice and will show in TIFF shortly, is now part of what I see as their 2011 slate, with it traveling the U.S fall festival circuit including the just announced Hamptons showing.

Scripted by Michael Konyves and based on the novel by Mordecai Richler, this tells the story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti). Rachelle Lefevre will play Clara, Barney’s first wife, a wild, troubled artist. Minnie Driver plays Barney’s second wife, the annoyingly loquacious Mrs. “P.” Miriam, Barney’s third wife and true love, will be played by Rosamund Pike.

Here’s what Lantos said about the sale: “Several years before starting production on BARNEY’S VERSION, I approached Michael Barker and Tom Bernard. I told them about my relationship with Mordecai Richler and about how important this project was for me and that I would not trust anyone other than Sony Classics to distribute it in America. I was determined to make BARNEY’S VERSION the beneficiary of their skill and experience. I am now delighted to place my film in their talented hands,”