Toronto’s finished and a couple more key film acquisitions have taken place over the past week. Here’s the breakdown:
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Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate have snapped up U.S. rights to Peter Webber’s English-language epic “Emperor” about the real-life story of whether to try Emperor Hirohito for war crimes. Roadside will release the movie theatrically.
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Wrekin Hill has acquired the Australian surfing drama “Drift” starring Sam Worthington and Xavier Samuel. An early 2013 release is being targeted.
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IFC Films has acquired Neil Jordan’s “Byzantium” stars Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan as mother and daughter vampires. A platform release is planned.
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Lionsgate and Roadside have picked up Joss Whedon’s zero-budget adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”. The film was shot in Whedon’s house in just under a fortnight with his actor friends like Nathan Fillion and Alexis Denisof.
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Anchor Bay Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to Rob Zombie’s “The Lords of Salem” which has scored some of the best reviews of his career. The story follows a radio station DJ who receives a wooden box containing a vinyl record that triggers flashbacks of Salem’s violent past.
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IFC Films has bought all North American rights to director Mira Nair’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” which opened the Venice Film Festival. The story follows a young Pakistani man whose pursuit of corporate success on Wall Street leads him back to the world he had left behind.
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Sony Pictures Classics have acquired all North American rights to Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Wadjda”, the first feature film shot entirely in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have acquired Kristen Wig’s new comedy “Imogene” in which she plays a playwright who fakes her own suicide and winds up remanded to the custody of her dysfunctional family. Annette Bening, Matt Dillon and Darren Criss also star.
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IFC has taken the U.S. rights to Erron Sheean’s “Errors of the Human Body” starring Michael Eklund as a distraught Canadian geneticist who has relocated to Germany and becomes caught up in the world of competitive genetics.
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Sony Pictures Classics have acquired U.S. rights to Atiq Rahimi’s “The Patience Stone” based on the award-winning novel of the same name.
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Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have acquired Stuart Blumberg’s comedy/drama “Thanks for Sharing”. Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo and Tim Robbins star in the story of sex addicts.
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Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American distribution rights to Ramaa Mosley’s fantasy-satire “The Brass Teapot”. Juno Temple and Michael Angarano play broke newlyweds who stumble upon a magical teapot that rewards physical pain with wads of cold hard cash.
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Cinedigm Entertainment Group has acquired “Come Out and Play”. Vinessa Shaw and Ebon Moss-Bachrach play a couple whose boat pulls up at an idyllic island off the Mexican coast, only to find that the only people there are a group of menacing stone-faced children. A theatrical release is planned in 2013.
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Freestyle Releasing has acquired the domestic theatrical rights to the tension filled supernatural thriller “Jinn”. The story revolves around creation mythology.
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Roadside Attractions has acquired the rights to Sarah Polley’s documentary “Stories We Tell” which explores long-held family secrets coming to light. A 2013 release is planned.
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Grindstone Entertainment and Lionsgate Home Entertainment have acquired North American distribution rights to Soi Cheang’s action thriller “Motorway”.
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Millennium Entertainment has scored first-time filmmaker Josh Boone’s dramedy “Writers”. The story centers on an acclaimed writer, his ex-wife and their teenaged children who come to terms with the complexities of love . Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Lily Collins and Logan Lerman star.
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Magnolia Pictures has acquired the documentary “No Place on Earth” which follows a Jewish family who took refuge in a cave for nearly two years to evade Nazi capture.
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Millennium Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to “What Maisie Knew,” a contemporary version of the Henry James novel starring Julianne Moore, Alexander Skarsgård and Steve Coogan.
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