Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Image Entertainment has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Lovely Molly, the thriller directed by Blair Witch Project co-director Eduardo Sanchez. The deal is high six figures and the plan is to release theatrically next spring. Lovely Molly made its debut in the Midnight Madness section of the 2011 Toronto Film Festival. Newcomer Gretchen Lodge plays the title character, a newlywed who returns to her long-abandoned family home and is hit with scary reminders of her nightmarish childhood that quickly color her new life. She descends into an evil that is part psychosis and part obsession. Haxan Films’ Robin Cowie and Gregg Hale produced with Amber Entertainment’s Jane Fleming and Mark Ordesky.

The deal comes as Content Film sells international territories at AFM. Image acquisitions VP Mark Ward called the film “a return and evolution to the genre that [Eduardo] created” with Blair Witch. “We look forward to partnering with Haxan and Amber to maximize the truly robust transmedia marketing campaign they’ve put together to make the film a huge success.” It’s the second significant AFM-timed deal for Image, which on Friday launched a distribution relationship with Alamo Drafthouse.

“Image’s entrepreneurial thinking and robust infrastructure give us the perfect platform to bring our film to the widest audience possible,” said the producers. The deal was brokered by WME Global’s Graham Taylor and BHDRL’s Stuart Rosenthal. Here is the trailer: