Sony Pictures WW Acquisitions And Samuel Goldwyn Pay $2+M For ‘Robot & Frank’

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday January 25, 2012 @ 4:33pm PSTTags: Robot & Frank, Samuel Goldwyn, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, Sundance
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and Samuel Goldwyn bought the Sundance film Robot & Frank. I’m told they paid north of $2 million for North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Goldwyn releases domestically and SPWAG releases abroad. Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Peter Saarsgard, Jeremy Sisto and Jeremy Strong star. Langella plays a retired thief in the near future who gets a robot, which enables him to woo a local librarian and get back to thieving. Jake Schreier directed and Christopher Ford wrote the script.

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Lionsgate And Roadside Attractions Buy ‘Arbitrage’: Sundance

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday January 25, 2012 @ 8:26am PSTTags: Arbitrage, Richard Gere, Sundance, Susan Sarandon
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have acquired U.S. rights to Arbitrage for $2 .5 million, I hear. They are working out the distribution plan, but it will be an awards-season release built around Richard Gere’s performance, and there will … Read More »

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Moviegoer Faints In ‘V/H/S’ Midnight Screening: Sundance

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday January 25, 2012 @ 7:19am PSTTags: Moviegoer Faints, Sundance, V/H/S
Mike Fleming

A moviegoer passed out last night during a midnight screening of the genre film V/H/S. EMTs came, say sources close to the film. I’m told the guy who passed out–during the first particularly gruesome scene–was embarrassed and didn’t want to … Read More »

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Cohen Media Group Hires Mike Rudnitsky: Sundance

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday January 25, 2012 @ 7:10am PSTTags: Carla Ornelas, Charles. S. Cohen, Cohen Media Group, Mike Rudnitsky
Mike Fleming

Cohen Media Group, the independent distribution company which at Toronto acquired the Luc Besson-directed The Lady, has hired Mike Rudnitsky to run its distribution arm and advise in acquisitions and marketing. Charles S. Cohen made the announcement this morning. Rudnitsky … Read More »

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Julie Delpy “Done With Acting”: Sundance

By BRIAN BROOKS | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 11:49pm PSTTags: 2 Days In New York, 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Julie Delpy

She began acting at the age of 14 when she was discovered by Jean-Luc Godard who cast her in 1985′s Détective. Two years later, she received a César Award Nomination for Most Promising Actress. She won international acclaim after starring … Read More »

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Sundance Announces Short Film Winners

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 11:05pm PSTTags: Fishing Without Nets, The Black Balloon, The Tsunami And The Cherry Blossom

Sundance Institute this evening announced jury prizes and honorable mentions in short filmmaking at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to this evening’s ceremony, recipients will also be honored Saturday at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony. Parker Posey hosts and the ceremony will be streamed live at 6 PM PT at www.sundance.org/live. Short filmmaking winners/honorees follow:

The Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking was awarded to:

Fishing Without Nets / U.S.A. (Director: Cutter Hodierne, Screenwriters: Cutter Hodierne, John Hibey) — A story of pirates in Somalia, told from the perspective of the pirates themselves. Said the Short Film Jury of the film, “By approaching a story of epic scope with an intimate perspective, this visually stunning film creates a rare, inside point of view that humanizes a global story.”

The Jury Prize in Short Film, U.S. Fiction was presented to:

The Black Balloon / U.S.A. (Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie) — The Black Balloon strays from the herd and experiences what life as an individual is like. He explores New York City in the deepest way, seeing all of its characters.

Read More »

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Millennium Entertainment Acquires Polarizing Sundance Thriller ‘Red Lights’

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 10:02pm PSTTags: Red Lights, Sundance
Mike Fleming

Millennium Entertainment acquired the Sundance film Red Lights, which stars Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro and Elizabeth Olsen. Despite the starpower, some buyers were turned off to the film, in which psychologist Margaret Matheson and her assistant study … Read More »

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Elle Driver Acquires Foreign Rights To Sundance Midnight Film ‘Black Rock’

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 6:31pm PSTTags: Black Rock, Elle Driver, Submarine, Sundance
Mike Fleming

January 24, 2012 – Sundance Film Festival – Submarine Entertainment announced today that it has sold all foreign rights to Katie Aselton’s film BLACK ROCK to Elle Driver. The deal was negotiated by David Koh, Josh Braun & Dan Braun of Submarine Entertainment on behalf of the Producers and

… Read More »

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Catherine Zeta-Jones Joins Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Side Effects’

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 4:13pm PSTTags: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lay The Favorite, Side Effects, Steven Soderbergh
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Catherine Zeta-Jones has been set to star in Side Effects, the thriller that Steven Soderbergh will direct. She joins Blake Lively, Jude Law and Channing Tatum, who are also negotiating. The Scott Z. Burns scripted film is being financed … Read More »

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Spike TV Pacts With Submarine To Hatch Non-Scripted Shows

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 3:32pm PSTTags: Dan Braun, Josh Braun, Spike TV, Submarine
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Spike TV has formed an alliance with Submarine Entertainment’s Josh Braun to find talent from the independent film sphere and develop non-scripted programming for the cable network. It marks the first major return into television for Braun, the former … Read More »

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Terry Semel Joins SnagFilms Board

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 2:55pm PSTTags: SnagFilms, Sundance, Terry Semel
Mike Fleming

SnagFilms, the sponsor supported web distributor with over 3000 indie films in its library, has named former Warner Bros co-CEO and Yahoo CEO Terry Semel to its Board of Directors.

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Edward James Olmos Is Sundance Prize Presenter

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 2:32pm PSTTags: Edward James Olmos, Filly Brown, Michael Olmos, Sundance Film Festival
Mike Fleming

Edward James Olmos will be a presenter at the Sundance Film Festival closing night awards ceremony. Olmos returns to the fest this year (he attended the inaugural Sundance festival years ago) for the premiere of the U.S. Dramatic Competition film … Read More »

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Caity Lotz Signs With UTA: Sundance

By BRIAN BROOKS | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 1:59pm PSTTags: Caity Lotz, Sundance, The Pact, UTA

EXCLUSIVE: Caity Lotz has found an agency home. The actress — at Sundance with her film The Pact, which debuted Friday night in the festival’s Park City at Midnight section – has signed with UTA led by Darren Boghosian. … Read More »

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Fox Searchlight Closes ‘Beasts Of The Southern Wild:’ Sundance

By MIKE FLEMING AND BRIAN BROOKS | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 11:35am PSTTags: Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Fox Searchlight, Sundance, WME Global

UPDATE: Fox Searchlight has made the deal official. The release is below the original story.

BREAKING: Fox Searchlight has closed its second big deal of the festival, capturing U.S rights to Beasts Of The Southern Wild, the Benh Zeitlin-directed film that created a ton of buzz since its premiere last Friday at the Eccles Theater. Several distributors were chasing, and Searchlight was rumored to be the most eager since that screening. Last night, Fox Searchlight paid $6 million for world rights to The Surrogate. WME Global sold this one.

Zeitlin wrote the script with Lucy Alibar, and the film stars Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry. The logline: Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin’ under in this tale of a 6-year-old named Hushpuppy, who lives with her daddy at the edge of the world. The film is in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and to hear festivalgoers tell it, is a strong contender. Last weekend, the film won the Sundance Institute’s Indian Paintbrush Producer’s Award. Here’s the release: Read More »

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Sony Classics Acquires ‘Celeste & Jesse Forever’: Sundance

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 10:21am PSTTags: Celeste & Jesse Forever, Sony Pictures Classics, Sundance
Mike Fleming

Sony Pictures Classics announced North American, Latin American and Eastern European rights to Celeste & Jesse Forever. The Lee Toland Krieger-directed comedy was co-written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, and is produced by Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd and … Read More »

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OSCARS: ‘Margin Call’ Nomination Bolsters VOD Fest Push

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 8:14am PSTTags: J.C. Chandor, Margin Call, Oscars, Roadside Attractions
Mike Fleming

Can Actors Be Sold On The VOD Business Model? Sundance Buyers Ponder That…

One of the hot topics of discussion at Sundance has been how viable VOD-centric releases can be in the Oscar race. While independents received 60 nominations … Read More »

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Focus Dials Up ‘For A Good Time, Call…’ Deal For Over $2 Million: Sundance

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 6:51am PSTTags: Focus Features, For A Good Time Call ..., Sundance
Mike Fleming

UPDATE: Focus Features has made the deal official. The release is under Deadline’s scoop.

EXCLUSIVE: I’m hearing that Focus Features has closed an acquisition of For A Good Time, Call… in a deal that is a shade over $2 million for worldwide rights. The Jamie Travis-directed comedy was scripted by Katie Anne Naylon & Lauren Anne Miller. The ensemble cast includes Seth Rogen, Ari Graynor, Miller, Justin Long, Mark Webber, James Wolk, Mimi Rogers, and Nia Vardalos. The logline: Lauren (Miller) and Katie (Graynor) move in together after a loss of a relationship and a loss of a rent-controlled home, respectively. When Lauren learns what Katie does for a living — she runs a phone sex business — the two enter into a wildly unconventional business venture. Cinetic and Studio City Partners have been juggling offers since the film premiered Sunday night at the Eccles Theater. The reaction I heard is that this is a female-driven raunchy comedy in the vein of Bridesmaids, with heart. Read More »

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Can Actors Be Sold On The VOD Business Model? Sundance Buyers Ponder That…

By MIKE FLEMING | Monday January 23, 2012 @ 9:35pm PSTTags: Hollywood actors, Margin Call, VOD
Mike Fleming

The longer the 2012 Sundance Film Festival deal-making stalemate continues, the more VOD-centric deals will take center stage as they did in Toronto. A lot of the movies that came in with visions of theatrical releases are considering overtures from bidders who intend to emulate the Margin Call model where video-on-demand is equal to or more important than theatrical.

If VOD is to become a viable business that leads films on the margins to being widely seen, some obstacles have to be worked out of the system. The biggest: convincing actors accustomed to seeing their work play on 2,000 movie screens that the VOD model doesn’t mean their careers are on the downswing and that they’ve been relegated to pay-per-view. The only real equivalent actors have had for this was when they made a stinker that went straight to video obscurity. Will those actors spark to the potential of VOD riches and embrace the idea of promoting films to cable delivery systems instead of the ego-boosting traditional selling system of commercials and print ads? This is a psychological hurdle for stars. When Margin Call sold at Sundance last year with the Lionsgate/Roadside Attraction distribution VOD deal, veteran actors like Kevin Spacey had to be convinced this wasn’t necessarily a step down from a traditional theatrical release.
Read More »

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MPAA’s Chris Dodd & NATO’s John Fithian Face Sundance Wrath Over SOPA/PIPA

By BRIAN BROOKS | Monday January 23, 2012 @ 9:32pm PSTTags: Christopher Dodd, John Fithian, MPAA, NATO, Sundance

MPAA head Chris Dodd and John Fithian, president/CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, brought their lobbying on behalf of content creators to a packed house at the Sundance Film Festival today. Both admitted to the panel they were blindsided by the … Read More »

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