The combination of the writer's strike impact and the absorption of both New Line Cinema and WIP into its fold left Warner Bros. with a notable lack of tentpoles and a glut of arthouse and mid-tier features going into the Fall and next year.

As a result, it came as no surprise that an LA Times article the other week indicated that the studio was essentially putting some of its more difficult to market fare, such as Guy Ritchie's "RocknRolla" and Mike Dougherty's "Trick 'r Treat", out on the market to see if some other distributors would be interested.

Now there's been a bite with word from Variety today that Fox Searchlight to share distribution with Warners on Danny Boyle's next feature "Slumdog Millionaire". The project is based on a true story about an impoverished Indian youth who improbably strikes it rich with an appearance on the Subcontinental version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?".

Warner Independent Pictures originally was behind the picture, but as it went tits up earlier this year, the project had been sitting on the Warners shelves and was unceremoniously set to open on November 7th when new "Madagascar" and James Bond sequels are set to dominate the field. Under this deal it's expected that Warners and Searchlight will buy in at a 50% stake each, and a new release date seems quite certain.

A new date and more detailed release plans are expected after the upcoming Toronto and Telluride film festival screenings of the feature.