Sony Pictures Classics have finally made a Sundance pick-up – and let me tell you, they’ve pretty much landed themselves a masterwork in David Michôd’s debut — and trust me, I don’t use a word like masterwork lightly. Animal Kingdom was perhaps the biggest title that had yet to find a high bidder, and almost one month to the date that it premiered in Park City’s Egyptian theater (here is my coverage of the screening), SPC have grabbed the all US and Latin American rights to the pic. If you haven’t yet seen the trailer, I suggest you check it out the teaser here and I’ll warn you ahead of time: you might find yourself humming the Air Supply song hours from now. Here’s the synopsis and a New York Times piece on the Blue Tongue Films – the Aussie posse that Michod has been a part of.
Welcome to the jungle known as the Melbourne underworld. Animal Kingdom uses this edgy locale to unspool a gripping tale of survival and revenge. Pope Cody, an armed robber on the run from a gang of renegade detectives, is in hiding, surrounded by his roughneck friends and family. Soon, Pope’s nephew, Joshua “J” Cody, arrives and moves in with his hitherto estranged relatives. When tensions between the family and the police reach a bloody peak, “J” finds himself at the center of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns the family upside down. Pearce plays a troubled cop and is the one who thinks he can save him the 17 year-old.
