The all-out war to acquire the rights to the Steve Carrell/Toni Collette comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" was just the start of the buying frenzy up in Park City this week as distributors all rushed around for the right to distribute films that screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
Whilst no-one is expected to top Fox Searchlight's $10 million buy of 'Sunshine', Warner Independent Pictures came close with its $6 million acquisition of all North American and U.K. rights to writer-director Michel Gondry's "The Science of Sleep". The company swiftly began talks to buy the visually dazzling fantasy starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg just minutes after its screening at Sundance on Sunday night. They plan a platform release in the second half of the year.
A similar $6 million deal was made by Picturehouse which acquired North American rights to Guillermo del Toro's dark fairy tale "Pan's Labyrinth" scheduled for a release this Fall. Set against the fascist regime in rural Spain, the film stars Ivana Baquero ("Fragile") as a lonely girl who creates a world filled with fantastical creatures. The studio has set up an aggressive platform release in October. Wild Bunch grabbed worldwide sales rights to the pic last year in Cannes.
Weinstein Co. has acquired all rights in North America, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to George Hickenlooper's Edie Sedgwick biopic "Factory Girl". The film, starring Sienna Miller in the title role, tells of the ill-fated 1960s "superstar" who was part of Andy Warhol's circle.
Though not bought yet, studios are said to be circling include Ed Norton starrer "The Illusionist", Robin Williams drama "The Night Listener", and Ryan Gosling high school drama "Half Nelson".
