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Cannes: SPC Sinks Teeth Into Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 5:00pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Jim Jarmusch, Only Lovers Left Alive, Sony Pictures Classics
Mike Fleming

Sony Pictures Classics acquired North American rights to Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, the vampire pic that premieres tomorrow at Cannes in the In Competition section. The film was produced by Jeremy Thomas of Recorded Picture Company and Reinhard Brundig of Pandora Film. Christos Konstantakopoulos of Fairilo House served as executive producer. Starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin and Jeffrey Wright, Only Lovers Left Alive takes place against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangier and follows an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, who reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their love story has already endured several centuries at least, but their debauched idyll is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister. “It would take a stake through the heart to keep Barker, Bernard and Leiner away from a good movie,” stated Producer JeremyThomas. Thorsten Schumacher and Jan Spielhoff for HanWay Films and ICM negotiated the deal.

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Cannes: SPC Grabs N.A. Rights To ‘The Lunchbox’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 7:49am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Sony Pictures Classics, The Lunchbox
Mike Fleming

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all North American rights to the Viewer’s Choice Award, Grand Rail d’Or, winner at the 2013 Critics’ Week, The Lunchbox. The film, written and directed by Ritesh Batra, stars Irrfan Khan (Life Of Pi), Nimrat Kaur and … Read More »

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Cannes: Sony Classics Wins Stateside Rights To Asghar Farhadi’s ‘The Past’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday May 19, 2013 @ 10:32am PDTTags: Asghar Farhadi, Berenice Bejo, Cannes Wrap-Up, Sony Pictures Classics, The Past

Sony Classics Acquires The PastSony Pictures Classics has landed U.S. rights at Cannes to The Past (Le Passe), Iranian helmer Asghar Farhadi’s ambitious drama starring Oscar nominee … Read More »

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Hot Trailer: ‘Before Midnight’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday March 28, 2013 @ 9:47am PDTTags: Before Midnight, Sony Pictures Classics, Sundance Film Festival

The third installment in the Richard Linklater-Julie Delpy-Ethan Hawke trilogy generated serious heat at Sundance this year. Seven buyers circled Before Midnight after its well-received premiere there until Sony Pictures Classics won out by sealing of the biggest deals of the festival. This one follows Jesse and … Read More »

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Sony Pictures Classics Lands Mike Leigh Film On Brit Artist JMW Turner

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday March 19, 2013 @ 7:13am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, JMW Turner, Mike Leigh, Sony Pictures Classics
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North American, Latin American and Eastern European rights to an untitled film by Mike Leigh that will focus on JMW Turner, considered England’s greatest artist. Leigh has set his Secrets & Lies star Timothy Spall to star, with Georgina Lowe producing and Gail Egan exec producing. The film will begin production in spring 2013 for a 2014 release. Production partners on the film include Film4, British Film Institute (BFI), Focus Features International, LipSync and Xofa Productions. The National Gallery, Tate Britain and the Royal Academy have granted special access to some of Turner’s original works. Read More »

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Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker And Tom Bernard On Why Oscars Matter

By PETE HAMMOND | Tuesday February 19, 2013 @ 10:26am PSTTags: Amour, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Emmanuelle Riva, Michael Barker, No, Searching For Sugar Man, Sony Pictures Classics, The Gatekeepers, Tom Bernard
Pete Hammond

When it comes to Oscar savvy we often hear Harvey Weinstein talked about as the kingpin of the game, but when you look at the success of Sony Pictures Classics you realize it rivals Weinstein, Searchlight, Focus and other comers in consistently, and annually, releasing and nurturing one contender after another in the quest for the elusive statuette of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Since the company was founded in December 1991, key to its success has been its co-Presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard who first worked together in similar specialty divisions at United Artists and Orion and now continue to run one of the most stable indie shops in the industry. But with a total of 25 Oscar wins  and 109 nominations just at SPC they clearly have the Midas touch, and that includes a slew of Best Picture nominations for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (their biggest hit to date), Howard’s End, Capote, An Education, Midnight In Paris and this year’s Amour which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and has amassed five Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film, only the fifth film in Academy history to be named in both categories. With writing and directing nods for Michael Haneke as well as a realistic Best Actress bid for star Emmanuelle Riva the film looks to be another strong contender for the pair who continue to be one of the few high profile companies that still champions foreign language films. SPC serves up a wide variety of specialty fare of all types and always seems to find a footing in the Oscar race which has become an important part of their business plan. With two contenders for Best Documentary and two for Best Foreign Language Film in addition to the Best Picture bid, the pair are fixtures at every major film festival and are once again making lots of noise in their high season. I spoke to both late last week about the upcoming Oscars and what it means to their bottom line.

Deadline: How important is this Oscar business to the actual business of Sony Pictures Classics?
Bernard: It’s part of the  business for Sony Pictures Classics because we can get movies, or have movies, that won’t get the recognition that they deserve any other way. And if they get that recognition what we have found is that the boxoffice and ancillary and profits of these movies get much better. We can go all the way back to Camille Claudel when we had Isabelle Adjani and somebody close to her suggested that you should run a campaign for her for Best Actress and we said ‘it will never happen, no one will watch the movie. We can’t get them to the theatre. And the person said ‘well why don’t you send out VHS cassettes to the Academy’ so we did and sent them to the actors branch and lo and behold we got a nomination. And it took that movie to a level it would have never gotten if it didn’t happen. Read More »

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OSCARS: Does ‘Amour’ Have A Shot To Make Academy History?

By PETE HAMMOND | Friday February 1, 2013 @ 5:35pm PSTTags: Amour, Emmanuelle Riva, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Michael Barker, Michael Haneke, Nicole Kidman, Sony Pictures Classics, Tom Bernard
Pete Hammond

Only once has the winner of the top prize in Cannes ever matched the winner of the Oscar for Best Picture. 1955′s Marty won both, but no film has been able to duplicate that feat in the more than … Read More »

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Sony Pictures Classics Acquires ‘For No Good Reason’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday January 30, 2013 @ 7:47am PSTTags: Big Deals Film, Johnny Depp, Sony Pictures Classics
Mike Fleming

NEW YORK (January 30, 2013) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all North American rights to Charlie Paul’s directorial debut, FOR NO GOOD REASON from Itch Film. Foreign sales are being handled by Independent Film Sales. Charlie Paul, who has been a director in advertising for years and is a former artist himself, spent 10 years making FOR NO GOOD REASON. Produced by Itch Film’s co-founder Lucy Paul, the intimate documentary portrait focuses on Ralph Steadman and features Johnny Depp observing Steadman’s fascinating working process at his home studio.

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Sundance Update: Well After Midnight, Sony Pictures Classics Closes ‘Before Midnight’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday January 25, 2013 @ 12:00pm PSTTags: Before Midnight, Big Deals Film, Richard Linklater, Sony Pictures Classics, Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Wrap-Up
Mike Fleming

UPDATE, 12 PM: Sony Pictures Classics has confirmed Deadline’s Sundance scoop that it acquired North American and UK rights to Before Midnight, the Richard Linklater-directed film that captivated fest audiences and continues the relationship between characters played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as the travel the world. The official release appears at the bottom of the original exclusive break.

EARLIER EXCLUSIVE, 10:52 AM: I hear Sony Pictures Classics has closed a Sundance deal for Before Midnight, the third installment of the Richard Linklater-directed series that began with 1995′s Before Sunrise and continued with 2004′s Before Sunset. You don’t get many trilogies at Sundance, but this one premiered to raves last Sunday at Eccles Theatre in the Premiere category, and seven buyers have slowly been nipping at it ever since when they haven’t been distracted by the other auctions. This deal is well into seven-figures for North America and multiple territories including the UK, I hear. It shapes up as one of the big deals of the fest. SPC partners Michael Barker and Tom Bernard also bought Kill Your Darlings and Austenland (which was bought by Sony Worldwide Acquisitions), so it was a most productive festival for them. Read More »

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Sundance: Sony Pictures Classics Acquires ‘Kill Your Darlings’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday January 22, 2013 @ 7:03pm PSTTags: Big Deals Film, Daniel Radcliffe, Sony Pictures Classics, Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Wrap-Up
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures Classics is closing a deal for multiple territories on Kill Your Darlings, the John Krokidas-directed drama that stars Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston and last year’s Sundance … Read More »

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Barker & Bernard Get Their Annual Woody: SPC Locks Woody Allen’s ‘Blue Jasmine’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday January 8, 2013 @ 8:33am PSTTags: Big Deals Film, Michael Barker, Sony Pictures Classics, Tom Bernard, Woody Allen
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: This hardly qualifies as a cliffhanger, but Sony Pictures Classics has formalized a deal for North American rights to Blue Jasmine, the next film written and directed by Woody Allen. SPC partners Michael Barker and Tom Bernard make this their sixth picture and fourth in a row with The Woodman. That includes From Rome With Love and Midnight In Paris, the latest in Allen’s picture postcard tour of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Blue Jasmine, for which Allen returned to his old Gotham haunt to shoot, stars Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett, Bobby Cannavale, Louis C.K., Andrew Dice Clay, Sally Hawkins, Peter Sarsgaard and Michael Stuhlbarg. It is the story of the final stages of an acute crisis and a life of a fashionable New York housewife. The film is produced by Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum and Edward Walson, and the deal was made by Gravier Productions. Read More »

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Sony Classics Wants ‘Midnight In Paris’ Suit Dismissed Or Moved To New York

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday December 20, 2012 @ 11:32am PSTTags: Midnight In Paris, Sony Pictures Classics, William Faulkner, Woody Allen

Well that’s no surprise – Sony Pictures Classics has moved to have a lawsuit over a William Faulkner quote used in Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris dismissed. “Plaintiff’s purported copyright infringement claim does not survive … Read More »

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Hot Trailer: ‘West Of Memphis’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday November 2, 2012 @ 2:51pm PDTTags: Amy Berg, Peter Jackson, Sony Pictures Classics, West Of Memphis

The Amy Berg-directed documentary West Of Memphis — about the now-famous trial, conviction and eventual release of the West Memphis 3 — is largely based on private investigators and forensic testing financed by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh. The pair produced the docu with West Memphis 3 … Read More »

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UPDATE: Sony Classics Fires Back Over ‘Midnight In Paris’ Lawsuit

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday October 26, 2012 @ 1:45pm PDTTags: Sony Pictures Classics, William Faulkner, Woody Allen

UPDATE, 1:45 PM: One day after the rightsholder to the work of William Faulkner filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Sony Pictures Classics over a quote used in Woody Allen’s  2011 film Midnight In Paris, the studio responded:

“This is a frivolous lawsuit and we are confident we will prevail in defending it. There is no question this brief reference (10 words) to a quote from a public speech Faulkner gave constitutes fair use and any claim to the contrary is without merit.” – Ann Boyd, SVP Global Communications Sony Pictures Entertainment.

PREVIOUSLY, OCT. 25, 4:22 PM: The rights holders to William Faulkner’s work say Sony Pictures Classics had no right to use a quote from the author’s Requiem For A Nun in Woody Allen’s2011 film Midnight In Paris. Faulkner Literary Rights filed suit (read it here) today against the studio in U.S. District Court in Mississippi for copyright infringement, commercial appropriation and violation of the Lanham Act. “Sony’s actions in distributing the Infringing Film were malicious, fraudulent, deliberate and/or willful,” says the six-page complaint. “Sony did not have Faulkner’s consent to appropriate William Faulkner’s name or his works for Sony’s advantage,” it adds. In Midnight In Paris, Gil Pender, the disillusioned Hollywood screenwriter played by Owen Wilson, says, “the past is not dead. Actually, it’s not even past. You know who said that? Faulkner. And he was right. And I met him, too. I ran into him at a dinner party.” The rightsholder say the slightly paraphrased quote could “deceive the infringing film’s viewers as to a perceived affiliation, connection or association between William Faulkner and his works, on the one hand, and Sony, on the other hand.”

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Hot ’60 Minutes’ Segment: ‘Searching For Sugar Man’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday October 8, 2012 @ 10:51am PDTTags: 60 Minutes, Searching For Sugar Man, Sony Pictures Classics
Mike Fleming

The Sony Pictures Classics documentary Searching For Sugar Man got a spectacular shot in the arm with a full 60 Minutes segment on the film’s subject, the rediscovered singer Rodriguez. If you didn’t get to watch the segment last night, it’s worth a look because Rodriguez’s story has to be … Read More »

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Sony Classics Acquires Fest Drama ‘Fill The Void’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday October 2, 2012 @ 9:28am PDTTags: Sony Pictures Classics

NEW YORK (October 2, 2012) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all North American rights to Rama Burshtein’s directorial debut, FILL THE VOID. Written and directed by Burshtein, FILL THE VOID played in Venice and

… Read More »

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Sony Classics Buys ‘The Patience Stone’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday September 16, 2012 @ 9:01am PDTTags: Sony Pictures Classics

NEW YORK (September 16, 2012) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired U.S. rights to THE PATIENCE STONE. The film, adapted from the award-winning novel of the same name (winner of the 2008 Prix Goncourt), is directed by Atiq Rahimi (EARTH AND ASHES). The film recently showed at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be released in 2013.

THE PATIENCE STONE is Rahimi’s second fiction feature. The film features a tour de force performance by Golshifteh Farahani who starred in Asghar Farhadi’s ABOUT ELLY, Marjane Satrapi’s CHICKEN WITH PLUMS and BODY OF LIES.

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Sony Pictures Classics Acquires ‘Wadjda’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Saturday September 15, 2012 @ 8:21am PDTTags: Sony Pictures Classics, Wadjda
Mike Fleming

NEW YORK (September 15, 2012) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all North American rights to WADJDA from Berlin-based Razor Films. Written and Directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, WADJDA is the first feature film shot entirely in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia–and the first ever by

… Read More »

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TELLURIDE: Sony Pictures Classics Goes Where Others Don’t With Strong Oscar Slate

By PETE HAMMOND | Sunday September 2, 2012 @ 1:03am PDTTags: Amour, Big Deals Film, Gael Garcia Bernal, Marion Cotillard, Michael Barker, Rust & Bone, Sony Pictures Classics, Telluride Film Festival, Tom Bernard
Pete Hammond

With 5 new movies screening just on Saturday alone with many of their stars and filmmakers in tow, co-presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard of Sony Pictures Classics are dominating much of the conversation and eyeballs at the 39th Telluride Film Festival. Playing today were SPC’s Cannes sensations Rust & Bone accompanied by star Marion Cotillard, and Palme d’Or winner Amour, whose filmmakers aren’t here. Plus 2013 planned releases No (winner of the Director’s Fortnight in Cannes) and its star Gael Garcia Bernal, and the father/son drama At Any Price whose Dennis Quaid and writer/director Ramin Bahrani are here without Zac Efron. Plus, the remarkable Israeli documentary The Gatekeepers. Barker and Bernard have been coming to Telluride for decades and strongly believe in the value of the festival. “I think anywhere from three to five movies is a good number” to bring here, he told me. And when they aren’t showing their own product, they have been seen at screenings checking out acquisition titles. They also held SPC’s annual filmmakers dinner Saturday night at La Marmotte restaurant.

Related: Toronto Film Fest: What Looks Good For Oscar?

But other top indie divisions of the majors are virtually sitting out this year’s fest. Telluride regular Fox Searchlight doesn’t have a single film on display here this year, though not for lack of trying. Searchlight has launched movies like Slumdog Millionaire, Juno and last year’s The Descendants among many others at Telluride – and this time wanted to bring their big awards hopeful, The Sessions starring John Hawkes and Helen Hunt. But Telluride generally frowns on movies that first debuted at Sundance. So the only Searchlight presence are reps checking out films for sale.

The Weinstein Company normally shows off their top titles, but only brought the undated musical The Sapphires (first seen at Cannes in May). It’s playing well at screenings here. No The Master. No Silver Linings Playbook. Both those movies will be in Toronto. However Weinstein in years past launched Best Picture winners The King’s Speech and The Artist at Telluride.

True, Universal’s arthouse division Focus Features this year is front and center with Hyde Park On Hudson. Its star Bill Murray hit town today and co-star Laura Linney lives here and is attending the fest. But Focus is saving another awards title, Anna Karenina, for a Toronto debut. Paramount, which has been here in the past, skipped Telluride and will miss Toronto in favor of debuting their awards players Flight and Not Fade Away at the New York Film Festival. Read More »

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